Looking for advice on lighting

[#6]

Hello all!

I have a 92-gallon AGA corner aquarium. When I bought it (I had to move AGAIN that that's all that would fit in the new place) all I had were fish, so lighting wasn't a huge deal. However I did buy a 175 MH pendent light thinking it would be enough if I later wanted to add corals. Well just by looking at it I didn't feel like it was enough light. I've since taken down the pendent and I've built a canopy. Mainly to give the tank a more finished look (and to add more lights). I'm now running 4 PC fluorescents under the hood. Two are 55watt 50/50 bulbs (towards the back) and I also have 2 96-watt bulbs (kind of in the middle to front). I would have put more in but that's about all I thought I could squeeze in while I was designing the canopy. However, it now looks like I can squeeze in another "small" fixture at the extreme front of the tank. I'd say a small rectangle would fit, something no larger then 12"x9". So here's my question(s).

In order to re-use the MH I need to perform surgery on it. It has some weird off-size bulb fixture/terminal. The bulbs for this fixture now cost >$100, which I refuse to pay. They only cost about $50 when I first bought it. (I believe the company stopped making lights.) Anyway, can I simply replace the end piece so I could use a standard 175MH ; is it call "mogel" bulb? If so what's the life expectancy of MH bulbs? When I first started reading up on them it was suggested that they be replaced every 6 months, is that still the case? The instructions with this MH light also stated that I shouldn't run it without the glass "shield". Do MH lights burn corals without a glass cover? I must say the last MH bulb I bought left a bad taste in my mouth, $130 for a 175 watt MH bulb was more then I really wanted to spend!

Option 2, a friend told me about something he found at home depot. I went to the web site and the company claims that the light has a CRI of 85 and a 6500K-color temperature. That's pretty good yes? Would this work? Oh it also say's the light produces 6,825 lumens of light output. The best part of this option is that the entire fixture w/ bulb only costs $30. I'm leaning this way due mainly to cost.

I guess the 3rd option is buying another MH fixture in a larger wattage, if niether of the first two options look promising. OK this is getting long so I'll stop here. Thanks for your advice and help.

i know nothing about lights, but i can say HELLO AND WELCOME TO TRT preety darn good

[Geoff]

Welcome to the TRT!!!

the fixture you are speaking of is made by Lights of America it is a PC flourescent. i have one over my refugium it does pretty good. as far as enough light for corals, it would be enough for some low light corals.

bulbs now are a lot cheaper now, online that is. in the LFS's they can still be that much.

can you get a pic of the MH fixture? it may help us with your options. i am thinking the MH would be a much better choice. it is a more powerfull light source.

G~

[karsco]

#6,

First of all welcome to TRT! I guess my first question to you is what type of corals do you plan on keeping. If it is just softies you are trying to keep the PC's may cover your needs. If you plan on keeping SPS corals, you are definitely going to want to have MH. For the MH with SPS you will probably want at least a 250MH although I have seen a few SPS tanks run with 175's. Lights are kind of hard to size to the corner tanks, do you have any pics with just the PC's on your tank?

[Ray1214]

The MH I would have to see the ballast but some ballasts can run specific bulbs. I personally spend about 40-60 bucks a bulb from Hello Lights for my 250 Watt MH. I personally won't go back to PC lights after running MH. My clams and sps love me for it.

Ray

[Doug1]

Agreed try to refit it so that you can run a standard MH bulb, tho IMO $wise the best choice is a 250 Iwasaki @$65 , should be good for a year. You might need more actinic to comp out the yellowish tinge, or just go with a 250 or 400 Radium 20,000K for serious SPS
No matter which choice you will have a hot center with shaded area surrounding, thats OK choose corals and that can work nicely. My main complaint with the 175 is that with the depth you dont get as much penetration at the bottom, derasa clam or lower light SPS might like it, but I think a higher watt MH would be a good choice, giving you more livestock options,FWIW

[#6]

OK, thanks for the advice. I will attempt refitting my old 175 MH fixture for use in the short run. I just finished assembling the hood yesterday afternoon and so far I'm happy with the results. Of course it will have to be modified once I determine how the modified light fixture will be fitted. And I'll have to keep in mind that I might have to upgrade if I don't like the results. Thanks again for the help.