175W double ended HQI 20000K - Good or bad for the seahorse tank?

[chrisbenavides]

Is this 175W double ended HQI 20000K light good or bad for the seahorse tank?

I am planning on keeping some corals in this tank as well, and wondered if this lighting was hurtful for the seahorses, or maybe even beneficial.

If this lighting is too much, or rather to hot for the seahorses, will 130 watts of PC lights be enough, or is this too much as well?

Also, does anyone know specifically what color of lighing this metal halide gives off? I believe its blue since it is in the 20000K range, but I am not sure with metal halide. This would be the first time I use halide lighting.

THANKS!!!

- Chris

 

[kjdeut]

20k blub will give you a very white/blueish light. I didnt like it very much and switched to a 14k.
I have a 250 de over my 85hex seahorse tank and they dont seem to mind at all. Only issue that concerns me is the amount of heat that pput out. I am going to have to watch real close this summer that the tank temp doesnt get to high.

Ken

 

[Fredfish]

Well, if its on a 5 gallon tank with nothing else in it, thats too much light.

How about some details on your system?

Fred

 

[ReefNutPA]

Another thing to consider is with low/moderate flow in a seahorse tank, powerful lighting invites algae to grow on the head/neck/back of the seahorses since they aren't very mobile. Not a health problem, per se, but certainly not nice to look at.

Tom

 

[chrisbenavides]

Ok...well I decided and bought some PC lighting that I have been very happy with. Only this time its a 24 in fixture and not a 48 in one. I went ahead and bought 130 watts of PC lighting with the moonlights.

I know that 130 watts isn't the greatest amount, BUT, for a seahorse tank it should provide good and bright enough lighting. Right?

Hey so Seahorses grow algae on them? Thats not a bad sign of immunity is it? It would seem like AIDS for seahorses or something. I am in the process of learning a lot from these guys and I also joing www.seahorse.org, but the administrator has not "unlocked" the site for me as of yet to the forums. Oh well, I'll try tomorrow.

Thanks guys for your info.
- Chris

P.S. I'll be asking many questions in the near future.

 

[ReefNutPA]

Algae growing or coating a seahorses back isn't a sign of any trouble or lack of immunity. It's just a bit unsightly to look at if a bright yellow seahorse gets a dark brown stripe running down it's back

Tom

 

[NFed16]

I have a 175w 14k halide over my seahorse/seagrass tank, and like Tom said the horse got a bit of algae caught on him the first day. I do have areas of decent flow in the tank though, primarily through my seagrass bed, which he loves, so it was blown off pretty quickly.

On an unrelated note, Tom I would love to see some pictures of your dwarf tank, that avatar is great!