Lighting a 30 inch deep tank with a 2 foot center brace???

[intarsiabox]

Why can't you have a light suspended over the glass brace? If you're concerned about heat in that area just have a small fan blowing across it.

[Hustler]

I could for sure and I plan to suspend them from the roof anyways with a fan system of some kind....
I thought the glass filtered out all the goodies???

[intarsiabox]

MH fixtures have glass over the bulbs to start with as it absorbs some of the UV rays to make it safer. The bigger concern is to keep the brace clean as any dust, salt, etc will reduce the light to the corals. Some people run MH with full glass tops with good results but heat has to be dealt with accordingly.

[Hustler]

Thats kind of what i figured... I just wasnt sure if they were using pyrex like in the hydro hobby.
Ill have to figure something out as i added my first set of 4 48" T5ho's today and it did almost nothing lol
I was thinking to double that and do 3 250W halides but that would be skimping pretty bad wouldnt it...
Im still looking to the Ebay hobby lighting fixtures if I can find a way to deal with the centerbrace it seems like the best bang for the buck?

[viperfish]

250's aren't skimping at all. You'll just have to keep your SPS in the top half of the tank.