Frag Tank Lighting ... please help

[lostmyz]

So i have a frag tank 36"L x 16"W x 8"H. I am possibly getting:

36" Coralife 1x250watt Metal Halide fixture w/ 4 T5 antinic w/ ballast

Because its a good price....


My question is.... How high should I have this placed above the tank? Also the lights have individual switches for the MH, T5 and LED (moon lights).... I would probably use the T5 and switch it to 2 12k and 2 actinics. What do you guys think? I think at no matter any height except majorly high the MH would fry my ****! I mean i would get another radion but don't want to drop 700 on a light for my frag tank (right now... maybe after i recoup some loses from coral).

I think this is a pretty good option for my frag tank but open to suggestions. The kessils are pretty sweet but i don't think the spread will be enough. My tank is 36" and this light is 36". Looking for anything thats easy to hang and can light my coral and make them grow nicely in my shallow frag tank.

Thanks

 

[jwalker314]

In a Similar situation. Tagging along


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[St.Pete_Reefer]

I purchased an odyssea adv model 24 inch light for my 30 gallon frag tank. They have longer and more powerful units. This was their baby unit, but they do have 150w MH units.

250w MH 14k and I bought 20k bulbs (right now I have 20k in)
4 T5's atinic blue
6 blue led's
Fan
Everything has a seperate power cord which is A+ for an all in one unit. Also I had all the lights on for over 8 hours and nothing was hot not even the ballast.

$180 shipped or less you can find the lights for and I think they are 346watts total

Here is a picture with just the T5's

Her is a picture with T5's and LED's on my 34 gallon tank just for fun

Picture with the 14k MH on in the 34 gallon tank sitting right on top so picture was not the best. The light looked and covered better around 6-9 inches above my 34 gallon.