Metal Halide Question Need Opinions!

[IIITYIII]

im debating on these 2 lights. current usa outer orbit hqi 36" to go on my 40 gallon tank. now i dont know if i should get the light with 2 x 150 watt, or if i should just go with 1 x 150 watt with 4 96 watt actinics. and this tank is in my room im thinking 2 x 150 might be overkill and maybe might fry my room with its heat. and 40 galoons isnt a lot of water and 1 x 150 watt might do the trick. anyone got any suggestions?

 

[ox5477]

what type of corals are you looking into? lps and softies will do fine with T5's and with it being a shallow tank (as I remember) might actually bleach the corals with too much light. For sps, really can't have enough light prob... though you can grow and keep sps successfully under T5 as well.... for anything, a single 150 over the center with T5 supplimentation should be fine for anything your looking to go with...

For sps under T5, my orange millepora has grown about 4 or 5mm of skeleton on the tip of each of its 5 branches since buying the frag about a month ago (under my 4 x 54W T5 fixture)... so T5 can work if you dont want the concerns or extra cost with the halides

Ox

 

[IIITYIII]

i have like 7 recordias right now pulsing xenia some grassy stuff i got from a friend and 2 coco worms. but i want some duncans and some austrlian corals a clam, brain coral so i def need a halide. im thinking because its a shallower tank 1 halide should do the trick.

 

[ox5477]

Sounds good to me

 

[Lynden]

A single metal halide bulb will only light two square feet effectively. Beyond this will be "shady zones" that don't support a hell of a lot. I used to have a similar setup (3' tank, 175 watt halide) and I had problems keeping everything happy.