i was going to go with 3 175 watt MH becuase i want to have a boat load of clams, and i neeeeeeeed to cut back on the electricle bill, would i be able to get away with 175s on a 125? i will alos be running t5s for antinics and the demension of the tank is standard 72x18x22. thanks - chris
175 MH have enough intesity?
- Thread starter mahoneyc3
- Start date
OrionN
Moved on
22 inch deep is a little too deep for 175 W.MH. You need to keep your clams near the light and in the upper 1/2 of the tank. If you use 250 or 400 W, you should be able to keep even Crocea on the bottom 1/2 of the tank. Clams loook better from top down. The closer from direct topdown, the better the clams look. I would use at least 250 W.
OrionN
Moved on
I think that would be great. You will have high light and lower light in your tank. Crocea and Maxima requires more light while the other clam species require less light. The Crocea and Maxima are most colorful and need top down views. Individual good refectors are very important. I am sure you can search and see which refector is good. Check with Sanjay light and refector webpage.
Omar H
New member
You bet, I use 3 250 HQI's in a tank with the exact dimensions you have. The only thing that I've got which I really hate is the top brace. It cuts a lot of light, no matter how clean you keep it.
Also, I don't use any actinic lighting and quite frankly I don't mind being without them. A lot of people like their tanks to look blue or purple, or for some corals to look fluorescent. If that's your ticket, then by all means use the actinics. I would't go for higher kelvin (higher than 10K) lights with clams, though some have a different experience.
good luck,
Omar
Also, I don't use any actinic lighting and quite frankly I don't mind being without them. A lot of people like their tanks to look blue or purple, or for some corals to look fluorescent. If that's your ticket, then by all means use the actinics. I would't go for higher kelvin (higher than 10K) lights with clams, though some have a different experience.
good luck,
Omar
OrionN
Moved on
250 W HQI double endded bulb with two 150 W HQI DE bulbs on the two sides would be great. If you are buying all the equibment now, I would recommend get the above. If you are re-use some of your lights, then use whatever you got. Make sure you get good reflector. I like 10,00K bulbs, and not using any actinic at all.
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