lighting for a 30g

[miguel]

I have a 30gallon flat back hex tank that I am looking to upgrade lighting on. At the moment I have one 55w 50/50 PC bulb over the tank and am thinking of upgrading to a 175w MH pendant. Only problem is that the tank is 36" wide and the pendant probably won't illuminate the sides enough. Any suggestions, don't really feel like getting two pendants because of price.

[OxInYourBox]

I'd go with 2 pendants over the tank (I know you don't want to but if you want all SPS or demanding corals you'd almost have too) or 1 in the middle and run VHO the length of the tank (you could use your PC on one side and move the pendant to the side so that everything gets light which would be cost effective or run two PC's like I'm planning below). On the far sides you could do lower light corals (mushrooms, zoo's etc) and more demanding corals in the middle. I've got a 65G which is the same length and for now I'm going to go with a single 250W MH pendant in the center and PC's (have them left over from the upgrade otherwise it'd be VHO) on the edges. HTH

[wetworx101]

If you go with a bigger bulb, like a 250, you could mount it higher above the tank...covering more area. Still, one halide over a 36" long tank is a little tough. You may want to consider 2 halides after all.

I have a tank just under 30g, but it is a cube, so one 250wattDE MH works perfect.

[Chamkeeper]

I have a 175W MH over a 30, I just put lower light stuff out near the ends, and the higher light stuff in the center. Plenty of light near the ends of the tank.

[miguel]

I went ahead and purchased a 175w pendant that should be coming in about a week. I think if I feel that in the future that I will need two, then I will just upgrade.