What do you guys think of the coralife aqualight pro metal halide fixture?

[knutcracker]

should i go with a 150W or 250W version for a small 26 gallon tank? TIA

[Mini_Reef]

Just adding my two cents here...

I have a Coralife "Lunar AquaLight" on my 30 gallon that I've
had great luck with.
Specs:
24" compact fluorescent with 2 lunar LED lights.
One 65 watt True Actinic 03 blue, One 65 watt 10,000K daylight lamp
the LED lunars are 3/4 watt.
it's got three seperate on/off switches, and power cords, and
built in cooling fans.

I really like it, it's simple and user friendly.

[knutcracker]

oh, i am wondering about the metal halide fixtures, yours is power compact fluorescent, which is what i have now. Thinking of an upgrade of course. and am wondering if the 250w lighting will be too much for a 26 gallon tank.

[knutcracker]

btw, although i should be getting a 24" fixture, i'm going larger to a 35" in case i suddenly found myself with a bigger tank (oh, i wish). i think it is the right move. but still, i don't know if i should go with 150w or 250w. heck! i don't even know if the coralife fixture is my best bet. suggestions will be much appreciated, TIA.

[knutcracker]

anyone? bueller?

[Poseidon]

How deep is the 26 gallon tank? I would suggest the 150 for 18" or less, and the 250 for 18" or more.

[knutcracker]

thanks poseidon for your response. the 26 gallon bow front is 21", but regardless, i am afraid of over heating. After all, 26 gallon is a small amount of water. the coralife fixture has an internal fan for cooling. its mounting legs gives about a 5" clearance plus the tank's moulding, i'm looking at 6" clearance. what do you think?

i guess there is no easy solution for choosing between 150w and 250w for a tank this size. I am looking to keep sps of all levels and clams in addition to the softies, LPS, leathers, xenias, and mushrooms i already have now.

Any suggestions? TIA

[charlie]

Do you have a sandbed? You will probably run to some coral wars in there with the softies and sps. The reason I ask if you had a sandbed is that will also cut down your height. As I said before, in another thread, I think you'd be OK with the 150W, especially if you are worried about heat.

[knutcracker]

yes, i have a 1.5" sandbed. what kind of coral wars should i be aware of? So far, I have only been keeping LPS and softies. i am not familiar with SPS.

[charlie]

Some soft corals, especially some finger leathers are very toxic to LPS and SPS. I suggest the book "Aquarium Corals" by Eric Borneman. There is more info in there than I can spit out in a lifetime.
You may want to do some research before you get into SPS.