What lights?

[Arokh]

Well phase one of my plan included using the stock light hood that comes with the aquarium I wanted (not sold without). But that aquarium is junk and the new one I want is sold without the light hood. Time to go for broke and get the HO (is it High Output?) lights needed for reef.

I don't think anybody in the state sells these (it's all Petco/PetSmart here, very few mom and pop shops) so I'm going to have to get them off of the internet. Anyone have any recommendations?

Wait, keep price and intended use in mind. They will be used on a 46 gallon bow front which is 36" wide. Should I shoot for covering it the whole way, or would a 30" light suffice (concerned about covering/melting the plastic frame on the top of the aquarium).

Also, the bow front is a little tall. So I may need a slightly more powerful unit, I think it's 21" tall.

Any good deals out there to be had for something that will work in my setup?

 

[minibowmatt]

to choose lighting, you need to know what you want to keep? if your keeping corals, you will need some intense lighting to reach the bottom of the tank. I would look into MH. If you just want to keep softies, you can probably get away with PC's....

 

[LA-Lawman]

I would consider metal halide also. you can get a nice all in one unit with ballasts and fans that is attractive.

look into a currentUSA outer orbit fixture... I would see if you can get two MH bulbs in that length... or you can custom order a fixture from PFO. After looking at all of the reef tanks i have built. if i did each one over again, I would have had MH on all of them.

I love the look, the growthrates, and the happiness that i see in the animals in the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I made the mistake of getting the High Output ALl-Glass light that you can order with the tank. It only provides 110W over the 46. No where near enough to keep most corals.

The 46 has a center brace as well. If you go MH I would get 2x150 HQI's. If you are going PC then its tough but if you can make a custom fixture you MIGHT be able to squeezt 4x96W. With that you should be able to keep softies and some LPS.
_________________
Acura MDX

 

[Len]

Nice to see you in #reefs Yep, you're gonna have to decide what you want to keep to decide what lights you want to get. I think you can't really go wrong with metal halides but T5 and PC fixtures are also viable choices. 20 years ago, lighting choices sucked. Nowadays, there are too many good choices.

 

[LA-Lawman]

Len, try not to date us!

he is so right though. there is so many good choices that you need to find the light setup that best suits you. you can always plan big on the light setup. start with something that allows you to upgrade bulbs and ballast so you can grow into the rig....

say 175w halides with electronic ballast... when you feel you need more light upgrade to a 250w and ballast... if you take the time you can find some good deals for quality equipment..

we all have purchased good and bad products... hit us up we can point you in the right direction

 

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you want to keep. For softies and LPS I would go VHO, PC or T-5's. For SPS 2x 250 watt MH.

 

[cjsrch]

if your getting a hood i would go VHO ( using icecap ballast)
if your doing open top get a one or two bulb MH pendant system or better yet one of the combo systems ( both mh and vho or pc)

 

[Anonymous]

Spend the extra $ and go MH.