Too much light? 46 gallon bowfront

[djrenimi]

Hi I'm upgrading lighting soon, and I've found a:
1x250 watt mh, 4x39 watt t5 ho, 4x led moonlamps fixture.

Were currently running 96 watt pc's 50/50 all soft corals but now we have some experience under our belts so we would like to go for the gold. I've understood the general watts per gallon standards however I know its changed with the technology. This is a total of 406 watts for the 46 gallon. Over 8 watts per gallon. Is this ok?

Also..I've researched some on replacing the center support with a clear acrylic. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[shifty51008]

I have a 46 bow and it is a pain to light because of the center brace. the lights you found will work good if it wern't for the brace and I don't have any experiance with changing out the brace so I can't help you with that.

I used to run 2 400MH's and 2 110 watt VHO's over my 75 gal which is 13.6 watts per gal. and everything from softies to sps did fine. just have to aculimate them slower.

 

[djrenimi]

Thx shifty

 

[reefmanmatt]

Thx shifty

check out oddysea , they have a dual 150 hqi / t5 actinic/ led moons that would be perfect for your tank since it will have a light on either side of that giant center brace///
i ran the same thing years ago and had a two bulb pc and a single pc fixture on my bowfront because they didnt have a nice dual halide with under 250 watt bulbs then . the bulbs for the pc are dirt cheap all over ebay , must be theyre gonna stop making the fixtures soon or something ???

 

[djrenimi]

Reefmanmatt, the light set up mentioned in the original post is in fact a odyssea set. However I have read some discerning views about this particular brand. Any advice?

 

[reefmanmatt]

Reefmanmatt, the light set up mentioned in the original post is in fact a odyssea set. However I have read some discerning views about this particular brand. Any advice?

i heard a ton of flack about this brand before i purchased my first ( i figured just by the config. it was an oddysea) i have used 3 different setups by them and inbetween everyone i know theres 8 , with zero problems . they dont come with instructions but if you can put a bulb in its a great deal !!! the halide setups get hot but the new ones have a nicer cooling fan which keeps them just as cool as any other mh fixture . i would see if they still offer the dual 150 and get it , your tank will be sweet as !@#$

 

[reefmanmatt]

you can also replace the center brace with a piece of lexan + plastic bolts if your crafty . then the single light wont throw the shadow and you can get the current one your eyeing . i recommend keep it simple + get the dual, think its the same price or like 20$ more maybe. i havent done it but was going to .... turned mine into a sump rather . kind of a waste of the bow but its effective