MH for 15G

[Comrade]

Hi Guys

 

First time poster, long time lurker and a bit of newbie in terms of lighting. I have a 2foot 15 gallon tank and I want to start growing some corals in it. Im planning on purchasing a pendant style MH fixture to go over the tank. Now I have several questions

 

What wattage do you recommend for the tank, will 150W be enough or should i go 250? I want to keep all types of corals in the tank evetually, starting off with easy hardy corals and moving onto harder specieis as I gain more experience, so I dont want to limit myself to the types of corals I can get because of insufficient lighting.

 

Will I be able to keep most things with a 150W fixture?

 

Also I am planning to hang the light off my roof, how far off the surface should the light be and what are heat issues with a pendant style MH light.

 

Sorry for all the big questions at once, but this is a big expenditure for me and I want to get it all right.

[bamann345]

get a 250 single ended bulb, one. There isnt much prive difference between the 175 and 250. You might have more heat problems with a 250, but that can be fixed.

 

I would hang it around 10-12" from the surface of the water, this will help with any heat.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Dave ESPI]

CSL PRIZIM PENDANT get it with the 250 W and 2 x 32 W PC.

 

 

Up grade to a 6500K bulb IWASAKI.

 

enjoy

[wetworx101]

No offense, but I dont think 6500K bulb is an 'upgrade'. 10,000, 14,000, 20,000...but 6500 is petty stock. I like pendants too but prefer the all in one solution of a 12,000K or higher bulb in a pendant. None of those pesky extra PC bulbs to replace. They are just an extra expense IMO. The pendants that allow for these bulbs are about $100 more just for the fixture...why??? PFO, sunlight supply, and hamilton all make good horizontal pendants w/o the actinics...IMO the way to go.