best lighting for a 42 gallon hex tank...

[Terreefic]

setting up a 42 gal hex, any advice on the most suitable lighting set up for a tank this shape??. the light hood measures 20 inches but the tank is 24 inches deep.. right now theres a 18" coralife 50/50, will this grow anything?? im new here so any advice would be well appreciated...thanks

[charlie]

setting up a 42 gal hex, any advice on the most suitable lighting set up for a tank this shape??. the light hood measures 20 inches but the tank is 24 inches deep.. right now theres a 18" coralife 50/50, will this grow anything?? im new here so any advice would be well appreciated...thanks

Nice to have you here!!! The first thing you can do is let know what type of coral you want to have, that'll help us out. Is the current lite you have a normal output Coralife?
I would look into either VHO or a T5 fixture for starters. Like I said, let us know a little more about what you want to do, and then we can help further.

[Terreefic]

i want to keep a host anemone, as well as polyps, maybe some brain

would this fixture be sufficient,Aquarium Power Compact Lighting by Current USA what about this onehttp://www.aquacon.com/coralife.html thanks...

[Reefland]

For a tank with an anemone, you should definitely look at Metal Halide lighting. A single 250w halide would light your tank nicely.

[charlie]

You should also wait a while before you stick an anenome into your tank. They really need alot of stability to survive!!!
I also agree with Scott on the MH for it.

[Terreefic]

good idea.. im also interested in putting moon lights in to simulate 24 hour light... any recommendations?.. any come with MH?... or that would be easy to install???

[Ninong]

i want to keep a host anemone, as well as polyps, maybe some brain

would this fixture be sufficient,Aquarium Power Compact Lighting by Current USA what about this onehttp://www.aquacon.com/coralife.html thanks...

Helpful hint: Before doing business with any online vendor for the first time, run a search for that name (Aquacon) on the various boards to see what you find. You can also run a BBB (Better Business Bureau) search. Those of us who have been around awhile have read many, many threads on this particular company and we are also quite familiar with their BBB report. You might what to look into it before placing your order and be guided accordingly.

[Ninong]

good idea.. im also interested in putting moon lights in to simulate 24 hour light... any recommendations?.. any come with MH?... or that would be easy to install???

There are ready-made fixtures that incorporate something similar to what you're asking about: Here. Check out item #53522: 1x250w 10,000K HQI MH, plus 2x65w Actinic 03 PCs, plus 2 lunar LEDs, dimensions 24"x15"x2.75".

That fixture would fit perfectly ABOVE your 42-gal hex tank but it may not fit INSIDE the canopy. It might fit resting on top of the canopy with a cutout in the top of the canopy so that the fixture rests above the cutout. Whether this option will work or not depends on your canopy, specifically how tall it is, or isn't???

I know nothing about that particular brand, I'm just pointing out that what you're asking about is available. There are probably other brands out there, too.

[Terreefic]

heres the tank.. 24 inches deep...

[Terreefic]

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Ginger/Pictures/2008-01-26%20chris%20aquarium/chris%20aquarium%20005.JPG[/IMG]

[Poseidon]

Hi Terrefic, you will need to load that image to out gallery, here then you can use the image tags to display it....

Oh, and