Lighting suggestions for 30 gal nano

[robitreef]

I am having an acrylic tank built that has the dimensions of 2ft L x 2ft W X 1ft H. This is a shallow tank that will house SPS and Clams (approx 30gal) and I will have a 10 gallon sump. The tank will be open top. I am looking at a MH pendant fixture, but I am unsure which to go with.

I was originally thinking of the Ocean Light from Aqua Medic (probabaly the 150W 10,000 or 15,000K). I had spoken to a LFS and they said that HQI lights can still give a good degree of yellow even at 10,000K, and they suggested I go with a mogul base MH.

What is everyone's opinion on this? I don't want to supplement with actinics, so a single MH bulb in a pendant would suffice. I want a crisp white light, with a little blue.

As for mogul base fixtures, Hamilton makes a 175W Reef star with a 14,000K bulb option.

They also give an option for an electronic ballast, but from what I read, a magnetic will probably suffice (as the increased energy cost won't be that considerable).

 

[Len]

For crispe white with a hint of blue, XM 10,000K is a good bulb with awesome PAR. Either mogul or DE will work fine (I personally prefer moguls). Coralvue Reeflux's 10K is also a good light for your description, but it only comes in mogul. For a bit more blue/white, the Aquaconnect 14K is a great bulb that needs no actinics IMO (though I will still be using actinics). The Hamilton 14K is a good-looking blue/white bulb too, but the PAR is a bit less then the other bulbs I mentioned. This bulb is expensive though and comes in both socket types. Ushio and AB bulbs are a bit too yellow for my tastes (though they did a beautiful job at growing corals in my old 120 gallon). FWIW, I don't think the color has all that much to do with the socket type. I prefer moguls myself simply because there are more bulb choices, I can use it with Lumenarc reflectors, and they're easier to work with for me

Check www.advancedaquarist.com (click on archives, then featured article listings, then look for all the lighting analysis articles there). You can find the PAR, the spectral output graphs, and various ballasts tested by Dr. Sanjay Joshi.

 

[robitreef]

With respect to the Hamilton and the PAR rating, will it be much of a factor since my tank is only 12" deep? Also, if you go with the XM bulbs, do those run on a pulse start or probe start ballast? I think the Hamilton is a probe (?).