pendant for a 70g

[njp14333]

im in the planning stages of a mixed reef. the tank will be an oceanic 70g (36.5" x 18.5 x 25"). the tank has no center brace so im thinking about doing a single HQI pendant. first off, will one pendant be enough coverage? im aware the sides will have to be lower light corals but as far as astetics (sp?) are concerned will it look ok?

now for a couple of questions:

1. would 250w be enough for lps/softies with a few sps up higher and maybe a crocea eventually, or would i have to go 400w for that?

2. which pendant? theres about a zillion different ones out there.

3. what ballast?

4. what bulb? there will be no actinic supplement so its got to be somewhat blue (although 20k is way to blue). im also concerned about par since i want to get some decent growth. i've read the pheonix 14k has a good par, and also has a nice color to it. any other opinions?

thanks and sorry for the big post.

 

[njp14333]

anyone?

 

[njp14333]

bump.. cmon someone?

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

cant answer a lot of your questions, but i beleive you will need two pendants, you will get a lot of places in your tank that wont get light. I guess you could put the lower light corals over theyre, but i think two pendants should be good, how long is your tank? if you get two 250 watt pendants, thats 500 watts, (7 watts per gallon) and should be good for most coral. Im looking for MH myself, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but this is just from what i gathered with my research. Also i beleive that they make ballasts that can support two lights, so you might only have to buy one ballast. Hope this helps.