MH Light Intensity Choice

[Colin Harbut]

Hi guys,

My aquarium is a 37 gallon, 12" X 30" (I'm at work right now or I'd tell you the height), and I am buying a MH light. Im unsure what light is necessary. Will notice a difference between these bulbs (in terms or brightness, coral growth, etc)? My choices are:

A 175W 4300K Bulb, 175 watt 5500 Kelvin MH Bulb, or a 12,000 Kelvin MH Bulb. Can I put SPS corals in my tank with any of these bulbs? Thanks so much for your help and info,
Colin

 

[Unarce]

For a 37g with the desire to keep SPS, you'll want to go with a 250W. 4300K and 5500K are poor spectrums for photosynthetic inverts. If you have the space over a 37g, try the 12000K with actinic supplementation. You can also do a 14000K or 20000K as a stand-alone.

 

[elpescado]

What reefnutz said.
I would use a pendant over open water, about 12 inches above the water's surface. The heat isn't trapped in an enclosed space so you shouldn't have to use a chiller.
Hamilton Technologies sells the Reef Star pendant units at a reasonable price. It is a Euro bulb style (double ended) pendant. You can get it with a 250watt 14000K stand alone bulb. They also sell pendant units with halide/PC combo if you want to be able to simulate dawn to dusk.