Im buying a 47 gallon tall tank for my saltwater tank of course... !! but... i was wondering what metal halide i should get for my tank , i want different kinds of coral , but my main reason of wanting to know is because the tank is soo tall....what should i get??!!
Metal halide
- Thread starter cichlidman1888
- Start date
Coral life makes great halides probally cost you around 300 bucks for a good set up.. how ever the best set could run you around 900 bucks and well worth it thease light would have both Halide and Actinic.. lightingthere are many companies that make this type of sleek design lighting ... what do you want to spend ..you could set up for lees than 300 dollars.. not that i would!
You definitely get away with a single MH bulb. Also, if you pay $900 for a MH set-up for a 47g tank, then let me know so I can see the pigs flying.cichlidman1888 said:
You can buy a ballast, socket, reflector, and bulb brand new, install it by yourself and save a few hundered. This of course if you have a canopy to install it into.
If not, then a fixture is for you and yes coralife does make a good set-up. You could consider the Current Sattelite system, or the Outer Orbit, or the Coralife Aqualight, which will run you betewee, $300-$400.
Take into consideration that a 47tall is going to require a higher par laevel to reach to the bottom of the tank. You should still be able to keep sps though.
I would consider 250w or above. Also, do you want to go DE bulb or SE bulb? And what K rating?
pending on your corals a 250w will be fine i have/used this one on a 45 reef and it was perfect all by itself with a 20k bulb wich i recomend its a great light for the price and will work well for you... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12112&N=2004+113352
depends on your coral species choice. For your tank , 02 150 W double end MH would be great , both in 10000 or 20000 K color temp. Suplement with actinic blue is not really necessary but if you like blue glow on your corals, you can supplement with one or two bulbs (both NO or VHO) . Single end MH will require higher wattage as their lumens rate (efficiency) is lower than double ended MH ( at least 2 , 175 W bulbs). If you will set up an aquarium for mushrooms, soft corals and some large polyps stone corals , you also can consider setting up your system with VHO bulbs (4 to 6 bulbs) . So decide the coral species you wish to keep, then set up your lighting...
A 30 breeder is very shallow and the corals in a tank this short recieves a more intense lighting, which also lets you place the corals on or near the bottom of the aquairum.
As for the 260w over the 55, this is what I had. Actually it was the Current Satellite system. I have since moved on to MH and now employ a single 250w 10k Coralvue bulb. I get a good blue, but almost too much. When the time comes for replacement it will be with an XM 10l or 14k. I have also thought about putting my spare 175w MH over my sump so that I can start a frag rack..
I would think you could run VHO's or the t5s, I know a couple of people that run VHO only on amazing sps tanks. My lfs reef guy is setting me up 36" t5s for my 46gallon that I am setting up for sps/lps. With these you get enough light and cut back on heat and electricity.