MH wattage and spectrum

Brock Fluharty

Brock Fluharty

New member
Hey all. With my birthday coming up, i'm going to ask for MH's for my 75 gallon tank. I was just wondering what everyone recommended for wattage and spectrum of the bulbs. On Drs.FosterandSmith they have a decently priced SunPod that's 2 x 150 watt MH's. I was thinking about using 20K XM's, simply because I hear only good about how nice they look. I'll hopefully be at this coming meeting, so i'll casually bring it up to them if we're allowed to look at Roger's tank. Then they also have a 500 watt fixture, which is a little more expensive...but I think i'd be much happier with this fixture...we'll have to see what they think about it all first. The 500 watt fixture is $640.00 which I am very willing to spend. I could get a used car for that much!

Brock

P.S. - My grandpa owns a used car lot...;)
 
I'm a big fan of Hamilton Technology lighting, I've used their fixtures/bulbs for years and am very happy w/ quality and cost. I would go w/ at the least 2-250watt 10k w/ 2-110watt VHO Actinic and dual fans but I would prefer the 2-400watt 10k if it were me and I was buying a Hamilton fixture, which I would. ;)
 
I would go with 250 mh as a minimum, But I would personally go for the 400mh. I have 2 x 400 watt mh plus 4 x 64 watt pc as well as 24 watt T-5 on my 90 and wish I had more at times.
 
I too like hamilton bulbs. My preference is the 14K. Hey maybe we should do a group buy on MH Bulbs.
 
if you plan on 20k definitely go with 250's. If you plan on going with a lower k bulb then on a 75 if you plan on mixed coral I would use 150 DE or 175 SE. If SPS/clam dominant 250's.

I have a sunpod 150 and am happy with it. The bulb that it comes with looks nice but im not sure about its par.

As far as what color temp/bulb the best advise i can give is to check out some of the local tanks. What looks good to one might not to another. AB bulbs would be my personal preference.
 
I agree with Jim, in fact after seeing the Hailton we quickly ordered a 400watt one for our frag tank and have had great results with it.
 
On my display, I run the 400w 14k vho actinic, I have great growth and am happy w/ the overall color.
 
Go for the 2 x 250 watt setup. Even if you go with the 10,000k bulbs the intensity of the light is not going to be a problem. If you go with the lower wattage and 12 to 14,000k there is a good chance you will always look at the tank and think, "Wow! that looks great..... but... I wonder if I would be happier with the 250s?? If I sell this light I'll get about 1/2 of what I paid for it and still have to shell out the $xxx.xx for the higher wattage light."

I had to make this choice a few years back and I went with the 250s. Then a year or so later I put a 400 watt in the center, was blown away by what I saw, melted my center brace, replaced it with a clear one and then permanently installed a 400w in the center. So, I now have 2 x 250 watt 10,000k bulbs on each side and a 400 watt 12,000k in the center (on a 75 gallon reef) and I absolutely LOVE it! Just the right white and blue mix (according to my eyeballs and taste). I know with certainty that I'll never have to upgrade the light for this tank again. If I had done all this in the first place I would have saved hundreds over the years playing around with CF + VHO + HID lamps here and there etc. Taking one off, putting one on, moving stuff around, building new fixtures bla bla bla.

My motto on lighting is "think long term and go big".
 
Ok, i'm thinking 2 x 250 maybe 14k? I really liked the color on Roger's tank. That's the only one i've seen in person (except for some at JoMars). I like JoMars display tank. What are those two?
 
The main 125 display (wave tank) is 3X150 DEs I plan on upgrading those to 3X250 DEs later this year. The new 125 tank has a small 14k 2X150DE worklight on it until we get the full lights later as well. In short we are going with 250s so we can run 14Ks. And finally the next tank we are setting up in debate now either 180 or 265 will be the final display tank at the shop and will be a 100% SPS dominant system. It will have 3 400Watt 14ks over it, at least thats the plan this year. There is also talk of a huge public frag tank that we can use for educational purposes as well as self sustaining livestock. We will likely use 400s on that as well but they will be 65Ks for quick growth. Just get the biggest light system you can afford and dont think you will be able to just use 14 ks in your 150s and get the same colors and growth that 250 14ks have, you wont as least not on a 75. Thats all my opinion based on what I have seen and tried.
 
You may want to consider heat issues before you start to put some huge light over 75 gallons of water. I would suggest two 250 watt halides, anything larger would be overkill IME. Now if you were putting them on a larger tank 400's would be nice.
 
Just my opinion but you can't really get to much light if you want SPS. So get the biggest you can afford. I heard 400's on my 90 would be overkill. But I am happy with them. And don't really have a heat issue. Plus they are SE bulbs which put out way more heat that DE. I am however running 4 120mm variable speed fans. Thermo activated to run faster as the lights heat up.

So far it has worked out well. I have considered putting at least 2 more in the back. And may still do that at some point. But right now they are not necessary. But who knows I might order them soon. My son wants some for his computer and I might just go ahead and order some 80mm ones to go in the back. (Hubby has a hole saw for those with out having to borrow one. Much easier to get him to do something if he has the tools handy.LOL)
 
Well, heat isn't really an issue, because with my heater on, I struggle to keep the tank above 74*F without turning the heater on full blast. Without the heater, and my T5's (which are quite warm) the tank is about 69*F. And I don't use a canopy, but I may start using it soon.
 
SE Single end has only one connection to electric (like a screw in bulb) DE Double end has electric connection on both ends kinda like a florecent bulb.
 
Well I just read that people have bad growth with the 14K's, so i'm gonna use the 14K's until they're used up, then use Refflux 12Ks. Then I might need actinics though...ugh...headache lol.
 
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