specific lighting advice for 75 G Oceanic Tank

[Laurie]

Howdy! I had a 75 for about 1 1/2 years. We started out with PCs but the ballasts were faulty and we wound up trading them in and going with a PFO manufactured hood w/2X175MH + 2 NO 40W actinics. Later we upgraded the 175s to 250s - lots more light since we wanted to keep clams. The hood had a fan but it was noisy so we stuck a 6" clip on fan behind the tank blowing across the back of the water. The hood had eyehooks and we could have suspended the hood from the ceiling but the light was blinding when you would sit on the sofa or a chair. That is the only problem I see with suspended hoods or pendants.

If you go with 250W halides and want to use Iwasakis make sure you get VHO actinics. You will need them to overcome the yellow tint of the 65Ks. The NO actinics just couldn't quite do it. If you go with 10K or higher bulbs, NO actinics would be fine. Be smart and get an Icecap ballast for your actinics then you can run any bulbs you like.

Laurie

 

[mtellin]

Apparently the new Iwaski 6500K isnt very yellow at all, its a nice crisp white if you have the nipple up, I was corrected on that by many different people on reefcentral when I said the same thing

Mike

 

[scwilich]

Another question as I'm setting up my system. I think I'd like to go MH if possible. If I do, can someone

1) Comment on the pros/cons of using a hood vs. pendant method, especially in terms of keeping tank cool, whether or not one can/should use glass top in either case, etc. etc.

2) Based on answer to 1), provide links to specific products that are good values... I prefer not to DIY now (I wish I had more time to do it, but only have the luxury of time for one DIY project and I've chosen the plumbing part of the tank instead of the lights).

Thanks!

Sebastian