SeaFish Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 what do you all think of a 150-175 watt metal halide on a 20 gallon tank about 18-20 inches deep and about 18.5inches in width (left to right) and about 12-15 inches width ( front and back)? the light will be placed at least 12 inches from the water surface. will this still be too much heat for the tank? currently i have 144watts of pc lighting. i want to keep lps and soft corals. maybe some hard corals in the future. i currently have a corcea clam that is doing well. it is only about 2 inhes in length. what do you guys think of this? just stick with pc or go metal halide? what are the benefit of each? Link to comment
Lebowski Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 next time, stick with your last post, cause this is basically the same. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 yeah....thanks for the reminder. bad habbit in clicking new thread. but yeah..still debating on MH or just sticking with pc. thinking about heat issue and cannopy. what do u think? Link to comment
Lebowski Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 the pc you have already is really powerful for that 20. I'd say you could get many varieties of sps, which would be fine in your tank, but not super happy. If you'd love sps, get the metal halide, if you are sticking to lps, and softies, just keep the pc. Or do a combination of both, keep the mh on and pc at the same time for a little bit, and then just keep the mh on or pc whatever. Link to comment
HuBu Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 will the light be in an enclosed hood? MH is good for its shimering effect. if you want sps, your lighting is only a piece of the picture. do you have a good calcium dosing method? Link to comment
littleprince Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 I have a 250 ushio over my 20. I supplement with 2x13w hellolights actinics. I have less of a heat problem than i did with 110w pc's. Because there is a greater air buffer between the surface of water and the lights. Link to comment
wetworx101 Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 i notice the same thing. the distance and open air between the halides and the opentop of the tank seems to make a big difference aven thought the halides are so much hotter than the PC's. Link to comment
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