Mh Lighting...

[PRW1988]

The title says it all, I've got a 72gallon bowfront tank, it's 4ft long and my father wants to have metal halide (MH) lighting, which would be better? A 150watt fixture or 250watt fixture?

 

[andywg]

If you plan on going for high light dependant inverts (clams, nems and SPS) then it certainly won't hurt to go for 250W, especially if you can clear the heat (open hanging or fans or chillers).

However, if the tank is only 18" tall then you probably won't have too much difficulty with 150W (I know I don't).

I personally would go 250W and even consider 400W, but that is because I love going for big and beastly (and it seems far easier to get 400W commercial control gear than 250W).

 

[jeasko]

I agree with andywg if you can afford to go for the 250w if you have the clearance/cooling sorted if i could afford to i would go with halide possible 400w but prob 250w, the only downside could be the colour output as the higher wattage tends to be a more green light output on some of the pre built units as there is less blue in the 250w lamp, but still they look awesome!

 

[andywg]

I agree with andywg if you can afford to go for the 250w if you have the clearance/cooling sorted if i could afford to i would go with halide possible 400w but prob 250w, the only downside could be the colour output as the higher wattage tends to be a more green light output on some of the pre built units as there is less blue in the 250w lamp, but still they look awesome!

The colour temp depends far more on the bulb K rating than the wattage. You can get 250W in anything from the yellower 10,000K to the ultra blue 30,000K.

 

[Lynden]

If you can get actinic flourescents to balance out the colour of 6500K metal halides, look into those. They typically have a much broader spectrum and last far longer than bluer bulbs, since the halide combination is more diverse.

 

[PRW1988]

We just spoke to the guy that's helpin' us out last night, he can get us a 48" MH lighting unit, with 2 actinic flouresent tubes and moonlight for only $1100

 

[Musho3210]

how many MH bulbs are there and how many watts? 1100 seems a bit much but then again, it could be a high tech fixture lol

 

[SkiFletch]

DAMN, that's an expensive fixture