29 gallon lighting pc vs halide

[purple firefish]

Just wanted to get some opinions on lighting my 29 gallon. I have an option of going with 185 watts pc or one 175 watt metal halide. Which do you think would be better. With the halide I would go with a XM 20K and no actinic. Or do would it be better to go with a 65w pc and 13000K halide. I would like to keep a clam and some sps maybe but also some soft corals as well.

[NaNO ReeFiN]

If you want clams and sps, metal halide is the better option.

[snowroach]

I just bought a 250w 12000k MH set-up from diyreef.com for my 29. should be here late next week, I'll let yopu know how it go's with that.

[Korbin]

I'd get the 175 watt 13K and 65 watt actinic. 20K bulbs are about 1/2 as bright as 10K bulbs, IME. One 20K 175 watt on a 29 might not be as much light as you want out of a MH.

[Undertheradar]

IME, the 29 is a perfect match for the 250wattDE halide 20,000K...no actinic needed. I would avoid the 175watters...their outputs are dismal.

[Reefmaniac]

The 20,000 Kelvin bulbs may not LOOK as bright as the 10,000 K bulbs, but as far as wattage output, they are at least as bright. The problem is that the human eye is better suited to see in the Green part of the spectrum and so the blue portion that is emitted by the 20k Kelvins doesn't look as bright as the whiter 10k Kelvins.

[coral reef]

who ever is telling you to go with halides is trying to rip you off hahahahhahaha just joking

[jkstiles]

I'd be interested in knowing how you're getting 185 watts PC on a 29 gallon. Most of the hoods I find have two 65-watt PCs. I'd like to know how!

[bickmade]

What does PC mean? I searched and searched. All I know is mh is metal halide. Its making me PO'd

[birdman204]

power......... compact......

MH is superb.....

[purple firefish]

I have three retros in my canopy. Two of which are 65 watts and the third being an older 55watt for a total of 185 watts of power compact

[Undertheradar]

Reefmaniac, where do you get your info? The same wattage bulb in a 20,000K vs a 10,000K IS NOT AS BRIGHT. 10,000Ks are visibly brighter because they ARE. In lumens as well as PAR. On average, the PAR of a 20,000K is 1/2 that of the same bulb in 10,000K. Keep that in mind when choosing bulbs. If you decide to use a bluer bulb like a 20,000 to forget about actinic, you will prolly want to up the wattage a notch to make up for the loss in intensity. That is why I said a 250wattDE at 20,000K for a 29g. Sounds big, but its almost like putting a 150watt over it at 10,000K.

[Von digity]

Dual 400 watt SE 6500k's ushio's fired on HQI ballasts all the way, and no actinics. hehe

 

But seriously if DE/HQI is out of your price range, it might make sense to do a 250 watt SE instead of the 175 that you originally were thinking of. It will cost about the same as the 175, and do a 20k bulb. keep your sps and corals in the middle, closer to the light, softies can flourish around the sides of the tank. When your tank gets all crazy and light demanding, you can upgrade to another 250 watt SE halide.

 

IMO, 250 watt SE halides are never a waste of money.

[corey0613]

reefmaniac-- check out this link, it will help you with your confusion. www.cnidarianreef.com it has analysis of 250W MH bulbs of various color temps. look on the right hand side of the page under links. some quality data.

 

 

undertheradar-- you are right on this particluar temp, but i would be careful in judging the "brightness" of bulbs in relation to their effectiveness. the iwasaki 6,500K for example is far less bright (visually) than a 10,000K but the PAR of the 6,5000K kicks 10k's ass. it's not like you can judge PAR by brightness. you cant even see it!

 

PAR is also not everything. depending on what types of SPS/clams you plan on keeping the 20K may be ideal for growth and definately coloration. nothing will make your SPS corals color like the 20K. NOTHING!

you also have to take into account the ballast driving the bulb and several other factors.

 

i agree the 250W HQI 20,000K would be a great choice for your tank.