Which type of MH should i buy?

[JoshHarpst]

I have had my 75 gal up for over a year and a half and am ready to upgrade my lighting system from a corallife aqualight and shop light fixture to a metal halide system. Problem is, i dont know what i need. I know i was told to have a minimum of 3.5 watts per gal to keep corals alive and in the upper 5's to grow them and that's what i want to do, but when i looked for some MH the wattage was really low. Also i would like one with moon lights. And all at the same time, i dont know what a good price for a fixture for my 75 gal is. I have been told 700 but was hoping that they are closer to the 500 range. Not only that but i don't know a good one or a bad one. WHich should i stay away from and which should i go after? Please help. If anyone could post hyperlinks with the products or give some info that would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.


~Josh

P.S. I tried to use the search tool so i wouldn't have to bother anyone but it's always too busy.

 

[bertoni]

Two 250 W bulbs should do a fine job of lighting the tank. You might want some actinic supplementation for looks. ChampionLighting.com, MarineDepot.com, and HelloLights.com are reasonable places to start looking for MH kits, IMO.

 

[JoshHarpst]

i have been told that the DIY kits are pretty easy. Again, i have never worked with MH before and am a little nervous about it. Are these systems a lot cheaper than that of a prefabricated one?

 

[bertoni]

Well, they're cheaper. If you don't want to work with wires, you could look at some pendant systems.

 

[DamageInc]

I just bought the Sunlight supply Maristar MH/T5 combo. It was $1,050 including the legs brand new on ebay but you can find a nice hood cheaper. $500, I doubt it especially if the MH's are 250w.

You can view the my hood under the sponsor forum for Sunlight Supply.

Coralife just came out with a 250w MH/PC hood with moonlights, just to let you know.

Good luck.

 

[Paulairduck]

I went with the Hamilton reesun double 175 mh 10,000K and love em.

:beer: