2 MH's over a 6' tank enough?

[thebigblue]

hi guys

i just went to premium aquatics in indianapolis this weekend...great strore and everyone there is very helpful...i picked up all my drygoods there with help from jeremy (after 2 hours of looking)...

my question is... can i run 2-250w MH (10K) over my 6' 125 gal reef?

i know they say you need 1 bulb for every 2' of tank, or if you have a 3' tank you can use 1 bulb...so they suggested i go with 2 initially and get a 3rd down the road...

from what i understand you can only power 2 fixtures with one ballast...then you need another ballast for the 3rd...so for cost reasons i went with the 2 only and can always upgrade to the 3rd later...

this gets me into MH lighting for about what i expected to pay for 4-96w PC's...

thoughts?

thanks

brad

[Minnreefer]

you can do it, I think that you will want to in the future add the 3rd but you can get away with doing it, you may have to play around with it to see what looks the best and place the corals in different locations.
HTH
Jon

[Brooke]

Brad-

You can certainly get by with 2 bulbs..but 3 would be better. Yes, you do have to get another ballast..and that can start adding up. If you are building your own hood, just make sure that it's not going to be a pain to remount the sockets for 3 bulbs. For now, I would recommend centering the 2 bulbs the best you can. Are you planning on supplementing with VHO? Try the 10k and see how they look. Check with Jason to see if you can run the Iwasaki bulbs off the ballast that you have. That way, if you decide the 10k aint for you, you can still use the same ballast. It's best to do lighting right the first time . Honestly, if you just have the 2 10k bulbs over the tank, I don't think you are going to be very pleased....but give it a try, it just might work!

HTH and welcome!!

Brooke