mh lighting on a 55g

[blind1993]

if i am getting a 250w mh with a regular reflector would it cover my 4ft 55g tank? i have a canopy and can elevate it about 6-10 inches from the water(do not have a sump).

it is 10k good brand bulb. i was thinking softies on the edges and hardies in the inside.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

You would want two MH lamps on a 55 gal. You are not going to be able to spread the light out over the entire tank plus you will have a center brace to contend with. Also, i would say two 250W Halides on a 55 gal would come close to over kill. Definatly going to be hard on anything that is not a SPS coral. Even more so if they are DE not SE. I would really consider going with 2 175W halides.

 

[vettesarebest]

10K is not a brand of bulb it is the color spectrum. 10K is great for growth but you sacrifice color. The higher the number gets the more "blue" tint the light has to it, therefore increasing the colors of the corals. Also the higher the number, the less growth you get.

 

[vettesarebest]

Xyzpdq0121;125295 wrote: You would want two MH lamps on a 55 gal. You are not going to be able to spread the light out over the entire tank plus you will have a center brace to contend with. Also, i would say two 250W Halides on a 55 gal would come close to over kill. Definatly going to be hard on anything that is not a SPS coral. Even more so if they are DE not SE. I would really consider going with 2 175W halides.

I totally agree with Brandon with this one. You could even go with two 150W Halides and throw on some T5's. I would highly recommend the Coralife Aqualight Pro HQI series.

 

[ronnieblaze]

I just got 2 150w MH 20k de on my 55g l... and i was thinking of going 250 aswell... but thought better... ya the brace sucks it makes a shadow.. but i can live with it for now

 

[olds350racer]

I run two 250MH DE over a 55. Brandon is right, I have to run them high above the tank and have to run a pretty good size fan... and no canopy. With a canopy I wouldn't try it. Good thing is that I can put any coral anywhere I want. Also, check out the different ballast/bulb combinations before spending your money. I bought 10Ks before doing enough research and wish I had gone with 14k now.

 

[blind1993]

Vettesarebest;125297 wrote: 10K is not a brand of bulb it is the color spectrum. 10K is great for growth but you sacrifice color. The higher the number gets the more "blue" tint the light has to it, therefore increasing the colors of the corals. Also the higher the number, the less growth you get.

i know it is a 10k aquablue or blueline bulb.

lets say i had to go with 1 bulb how much could i cover? i could use one bulb and add some t5s later

 

[victor626nj]

blind you can not do it ...why dont you listen to us you would barely get any coverage you will be just wasting money .....i know your just a kid and dont have money and thats why i try to advise you as much as possible ...but going cheap isnt going to work ...your better off with the t5 .....here this is the cheapest and it is a good product if you want cheaper youll probably get crap.....unless you get the ballast that 46bfinga has for sale..... http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1198...hope">http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1198...hope</a> this helps
victor

 

[victor626nj]

here is another good option

 

[cameron]

Vic is right.

 

[victor626nj]

you wont have to worry about heat and youll be able to grow anything you want ..you cvan even add t5 later

 

[jaustin]

what's the length of a 55g? I have a 65 tall and two 175w halides cover the tank 100%. They are under a hood too with one pusher fan, my tank temps are 77-78. I have a fan that turns on when the halides turn on.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

55 Gal is 48" long.. The issue with coverage is not a matter of him going 250W vs. 175W, the issue is that he only wants one lamp. It is just not going to work. Can we say spotlight. First off, the center brace is going to be a problem, it is going to cast one mean shadow in the water plus the heat from a 250W could melt the center brace. Second, depending on the reflector, he is only goinf to get about 15-20" of GOOD coverage from the bulb. Anything over that and the par will drop. So by adding two and letting them overlap, is the only way he is going to get full coverage out of that lamp. I do not care how many t-5's he adds.

 

[jaustin]

he'll need two maybe three to get the tank covered. One would look like one hell of a spotlight too. It takes two to cover my 36" with a parabolic relfector from hellolights.com

 

[cameron]

Typical MH lighting for most tanks is 1 per 24". Seems to work pretty well. You can stretch that a bit but like everyone else says, you aren't going to double it effectively.

 

[saltwater junky]

im running 2 over my 125 with no problems. blind if you dont want them i understand,i have other buyers lined up so just pm me and let me know.