Thiunking of getting a MH

[bob`_your_dog]

Well now that i've started to get my coral collection going, and i've just managed to sell my car, i have been thinking about getting a metal halide. But I cant really decided if it's worth it.

I have 4-40 watt tubes now (well 2 40 watts and 2 20 watts running at 40 watts), and my corals seem 100% even some dying hard corals i got are comming back to life, so i'm not sure if i should upgrade to a MH, also i have a DIY canopy so installing it wont be a problem but my question is, will a MH light my entire 4 foot tank of just a portion underneath it, and how far above the water must they be?

It's not a very deep tank, just the usual 45cm's. So i'm kind off under the impression that my lighting is allright at the moment, maybe not for a clam but for what i got, 1 colt, 3 trumpets, 1 cat paw, a few musrooms, and a large pineapple brain coral.

 

[amstar15]

they usually say in a halide for every two feet of tank length. tanks that are 18-30" deep need 175 watt bulbs, 24-36" deep need 250 watt bulb, and 24-60" need 400 watt bulbs.

also I switched from 440 watts of vho lighting to two 175 watt 10k halide bulbs and blue actinics. I love the difference in the look of the water (looks much brighter, crisper, cleaner) my corals were doing good before, but what a difference now. but like you said, "IF IT AINT BROKE DO YOU WANT TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT"

I like my upgrade to halides

 

[bob`_your_dog]

Okay well i went to the LFS and realized that my wallet wasn't gonna allow me to get a MH, so i bought a 40-watt power-glo 18,000K, 180 lux. I have replaced my 30 watt sun-glo 6500K and now i'm wondering if i should still use the sun-glo or not? I love the new look, it really polishes the tank off, the sun-glo gave the tank a yellow'ish tint but now it seems alot more blue and crisp.

So to Sun-glo or not?

 

[andywg]

Sadly the yellow light is more natural to the environment the majority of corals live in (what with the sun being somewhere between 6,500K and 7,500K).

My advice to anyone thinking of upgrading to metal halides and doesn't want to spend an arm and a leg is...

Never go to your LFS

They will only stock the all in one pendants where you're paying a lot for having an "aquarium" light and the casing. I just bought ordinary halides off of Ebay and put them into the hood and they work just fine and cost a grand total of £80 for two(including P&P).

The only extra cost you may find would be purchasing a new bulb to get the correct colour range for you (fortunately, since mine were for FW the 4,500K works well for the plants).

HIH

p.s. Hmm, obviously you will need a small amount of DIY skills for my advice above, but most fishkeepers have a budding DIYer waiting to come out.

 

[bob`_your_dog]

Just a quick update, i bought a 2nd hand 150MH. I got it cheap. It's really amazing I never knew how much of a difference it would make! I Had to make a new canopy, made it about 10cm's higher to get a wider spread of light, I managed to get it so it lights my entire tank up!

Now I'm just gonna use my actinic, power-glo and maybe my other cheapo 10 00k but i'm not sure if i should even bother with the T8's