advice on lighting, used mh or t5 glo

[imisky]

magnetic/electronic/pulse start/probe are all different types of ballasts. magnetic type ballasts tend to "over drive" some bulbs while electronic seem to "underdrive" some bulbs.. this is of course has expections as they dont always over drive or under drive bulbs as every bulb has different specs that they need to run at.

in my experience a single 150W will cover a normal size 20gallon just fine as for heat if you went with the 250W you can always lift it higher thus end up with less heat inside the tank itself, however as whatcaneyedo it also depends on where the tank is setup and the ambient temp.

[Navarchus]

In my experience to get a good cover when using MH to main factors to be considered:
Length of the tank and height (if it is a very wide tank then you should re-consider)

I would recommend a MH bulb for every 24 in! If you have 50inch tank you should use 2 bulbs, one for every 24inch and so on.

To select the power of the bulb I would recommend:

For a tank up to 24inch heights a 150 will do the job.
For a tank up to 30inch heights a 250 will do the job.
For a tank above 30inch height a 400 in needed.

[megs_clark]

Well i didnt want to wait any longer so i bought a t5 glo from aquatic addictions. Reason being i didnt want to have to buy a mh plus chiller, and most of the used mh needed new bulbs, was out of my buget for the time.
Im liking the glo t5 so far, only downside is it doesnt have seperate plug ins or switches for the lights. But its a huge improvment from before. I also put in my first fish, a clown fish picked by my boys of course, and am getting a second one today. I figure ill eventualy go for a bigger tank, and will try to find a package deal with mh seeing as that seems to be what most recomend. I think ill get a bigger tank in the very near future as this seems to be addicting, and will use my current tank as a quarintine tank since i dont currently have one. Thanks again for all the advice, i saved the link to the "facts of light". Which is very informative and should help me know what to look for.

[lorenz0]

What bulbs did you go with?

[DJ_drew]

if ur looking for a good starter tank i have a 75 gallon, stand, canopy and dual 175w halides with ballasts and a heater, power head, overflow box.
$500 obo if ur interested.

[fishytime]

Dont let people scare you about the hagen lights...here is what I did with two hagen units over a 20g http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...fishytimes+20g

[megs_clark]

Wow fishy time, your tank looks great, Im hoping one day to get mine like that, still a little bare, but ill get their. You had 4 bulbs going then ay, .

Right now i have one 10000k bulb and the other actinic. It looks way better. I wasnt sure if i should have 2 10000k, or the mix.

My next buy will be something for my clown fish to hide in. :O) I just put in two clown fish and two turbo snail and my other hald just supprised be with a brittle star. I figure i should hold off anymore living creatures for a few weeks since its only been going for a couple months. Does something like a bubble tip or a anemone add to a bio load? I figure they must since their living. Funny iv had my freshwater tank going for a few years and nobody has taken an interest but since i started my little saltwater tanki notice everyone looking in, and my husband seems as excited as i do when i add something :O)

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by fishytime

Dont let people scare you about the hagen lights...here is what I did with two hagen units over a 20g http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...fishytimes+20g

Agreed, although I currently have a retrofit T5HO set up (4x54watt), I started with a 36" Hagen Glo fixture on my 4 ft tank with the same bulb config as you, one 10,000k & one actinic. Worked fine to get things going and even had a few soft corals sprout out of the LR on their own under that light. I also had a BTA under it for a number of months and it was fine. I've recently added 2x250 SE mogul MH on magnetic ballasts which I run for about 3 hours during the midday period, with the T5s off. I now have a few LPS corals and the added lighting is helping those along quite a bit. You'll be fine for the time being with just a few fish and this will give you time to contemplate your next move. Depending on where you want to go, corals, etc. you'll likely want to increase your lighting, whether it be T5HO or MH, maybe even LED, yikes. If you wish to add a bubble tip anemone for your clowns, it should do ok, but try to have it at up as high as you can, although they tend to move on occasion and find their own spot. There's no guarantee that the clowns will host in it, but with a little luck & patience, they'll dive in there at some point.