HQI Ballast??

[Reefland]

Bo,

All double-ended sockets will work for all wattages. So the pendents are interchangable in regards to different wattages.

[N3m0]

I may have missed it - how big is your tank?
Never mind. I just re-read the postings. Sorry

its 75 gallon but i dont know either to run 1 or 2 150watts bulb because some people told me one bulb is good enough

[yankeebobo]

Bo,

All double-ended sockets will work for all wattages. So the pendents are interchangable in regards to different wattages.

Thanks for clearing that one up. Somehow I couldn't commit to the answer.

[Reefland]

Bo,

That's why we have these discussions. ;)

N3m0,

You will want 2 bulbs to cover the entire spread of the tank.

[yankeebobo]

its 75 gallon but i dont know either to run 1 or 2 150watts bulb because some people told me one bulb is good enough

You COULD go with one. But honestly, by the time you pay money to find a way to light the "dead spots", you might as well get the setup for 2. We have a 36 inch tank. I'm basically borderline (to MY tastes). But, in the 6-8 inches at the ends, I have corals that aren't huge on soaking the lights. All my light hungry corals are in the middle.

Personally, I would just make sure to evaluate the budget and keep your eyes open. Sometimes, used stuff goes up for sale.

[Reefland]

Yeah I should mention as Bo has, you can get away with one however you will have ~16" on each end of the tank that isn't bright and will need to be lit with other lighting. The problem with this is placing 1 halide over the center of a tank with a center brace needs to be placed high above the brae to prevent it from weakening. This will increase the spread but you will loose a lot of light. You would be much better off with 2 halides, one over centered over each end of the tank.

[N3m0]

Yeah I should mention as Bo has, you can get away with one however you will have ~16" on each end of the tank that isn't bright and will need to be lit with other lighting. The problem with this is placing 1 halide over the center of a tank with a center brace needs to be placed high above the brae to prevent it from weakening. This will increase the spread but you will loose a lot of light. You would be much better off with 2 halides, one over centered over each end of the tank.

Would this ballast be good enough to cover the 150watts MH

175 W DUAL PS METAL HALIDE aquarium ballast Blue Wave

I know its a lil over the wattage of the lamps but I've seen the ballast that support 150 and 175 wattage

[Reefland]

No this ballast will not work for the 150w bulb, remember the ballast and bubl wattage must match. This would be a nice ballast to power 2 Ushio 10k 175w Mogule Based Bulbs.

[N3m0]

I think I found a Ballast that might work but I still need people's opinion:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=1348

[The R/C Man]

Hey evereyone!!!!

Well I haven't read much after the first handfull of posts but here it goes.....

According to a speech given by Steve Tyree, amoung the different spectrums, 20k lighting seem to be the most benificial for sps corals. He did however recommend a combination of bulbs if possible. As far as our vision goes, 20k makes it very difficult to distinguish colors such as reds, oranges and yellows. My recommendation would be to suppliment the MH with 6500k and 10k VHO'S or PC's to obtain a nice visual of the corals......

[The R/C Man]

Oh, as mentioned, a bulb usually covers 2 square feet. So you will probably need two bulbs. What wattage would depend on the specific type of corals you plan to keep. On that note, I would try to keep corals for the same areas of a reef in order for them to benifit the specific light intesity you have provided....... (look up biotopes) Here is a general overview: Biotopes and you!!!