Good morning,...lighting question.

[PHOTOG]

Tank-55gallon HEX, tank is 24 inches deep and about 27 inches "round", If i got a 400 watt MH what would I be able to keep in there as far as corals are concerned? I am curious.

would this be too little or maybe too much light?

 

[shiftyfatdwarf]

i wouldn't say it would be too much light if anything too little, but i don't see it being a problem.

i havn't had a hex so im not positive so keep askin

 

[PHOTOG]

Maybe a little bump here will help.


Anyone else got any ideas?

 

[Hop]

What color temp? For anything other that 20K, I think that a single 250 would be sufficient. Even then, a overdriven 20K 250 would be more than enough. But it really depends on bulb/ballast combos. You really can't say 250 or 400 across the board. There are 250s blowing 400 out of the water as far as par goes.

 

[PHOTOG]

What is PAR?

the 400w is an industrial fixture with ballast already wired, I dont know the exact parts, a buddy has this light and was going to give it to me for $50 and I figured if it already has a socket, ballast and reflector then I would just need to wire on a 3 prong plug and hang it.

I was thinking of a 14k bulb.

 

[Hop]

Well there is a possibility that you would have a $50 paperweight. Some ballasts wont fire some bulbs. I spent months researching lighting and to sum it up... I'm still not real comfortable giving advice on the matter.

Par is basically a measurement of the bulb/ballast lighting intensity.

You can start by checking out sanjay's thread and link to his website where he tested hundreds of combinations.

Link

 

[kodyboy]

It should work fine, a hamilton 14k or phoenix 14K would proabably look nice. I assume you are hanging this above the tank, so heat should not be an issue.