MH help needed?

[RigPie]

I want to upgrade to MH lighting for my 20L. Would a single 250W 10,000K in canopy be to hot, if so would a 150W 10,000K w/ 55W of PC actinic still allow me to keep SPS, Clams, and softies. I would like to keep a wide varity of livestock without completely breaking the wallet. Also will any glass act as a UV sheild or is there a specific type to use. Thanks ahead for the help.

 

Jon

[DarkDevil]

from what I have read, they are both hot, you need good vents and fan either case, if you are on a tight budget, go to e-bay and get a cheap MH ballast and run some probe start bulb, there are a lot of good choices out there, a 250W M58 ballast usually cost around $30 on e-bay and a bulb cost around $70, but just to let you know, there are a lot of ppl here on this forum who run just PCs have good results with SPS, clams and softies already, so a 150W will be good also, for UV protection, most ppl don't put a "shield" under the SE MH bulb, as those are kind of protected already, but for DE bulb(HQI), you need some sort of UV guard, glass is heavy and breakable, ppl will use some plexiglass instead, I know some of them have UV protections also, good luck deciding your choice.