75 Gal Oceanic w/ center Brace

[coralreeferhead]

Does anybody know if it is possible to remove the center brace from an oceanic reef-ready 75? I have a 3xMH fixture and am affraid that the center brace is going to affect my lighting. The center light is only 150w while the outer two are 250w.

 

[Blown 346]

I would strongly suggest to leave the center brace there. It is there to help support the weight of the tank while the watye ris pushing against the glass.

If you remove it the tank has a very great chance of it collapsing and being destroyed.

The brace wont make that large of a difference as long as the halies are the correcy distance away from the brace.

 

[coralreeferhead]

My light I will be using is the aqua medic 2x250watt + 150Watt MH 48" fixture. The 150 watt lamp will be directly over the brace.

 

[kcress]

I can't see why you'd want that much MH into a 75... Seems like the two 250s is way plenty. You're operational costs are going to be steep as you are going to end up needing a chiller too.

 

[coralreeferhead]

What about a 20K for the 150, or should I leave the center bulb out?

 

[scrombussquared]

Disconnect the center ballast. 500w of MH in a tank that's what, 20 inches deep will be more than enough light for just about anything you want to keep. Cheaper to run also.

 

[coralreeferhead]

So are the little MH 250's (Double ended HQI) in the fixture just as powerful as the large mogul 250 watt units?

I guess What I'm asking is: Is a Metal Halide a Metal Halide?

Why would anybody use those huge reflectors?

 

[ozzy200769]

My understanding is the HQI is stronger than the mogul, 2 250 watt is plenty for a 75g.
The tank is 4' long, halides cover 2' each, your working w/ over 6 watts per gallon.
IMO thats plenty for anything you would want to keep.

What bulbs are you running?

 

[coralreeferhead]

The fixture has ushio bulbs in it right now, but I'm trying to figure out what bulbs to go with next. Right now I like XM, AB, Radium, Phoenix...so many decisions. I just want the bluest I can get but still have excellent coral growth.

 

[Blown 346]

With my experience, I would use onle 2 250 watt 14k halides.

I have this exact setup over my 90 and everything thrives.

 

[coralreeferhead]

Blown,

do you use a chiller?

 

[Blown 346]

No, I dont have to, I have 2 Ice cap fans, one on each end of my canopy to push the hot air out.