lighting for 55 gal

[force of habit]

I am looking at buying 2- 250w mh for my 55 gal tank. I want to get into corals as I go along. They are used so the price is right. I am wondering if this is too much light though.

 

[cj10488]

That is what I have on my 55gal.. I have 2x250watt XM 10k bulbs along with 2x55 actinic Catalina PC bulbs.. I think that It is a nice amount of light and IMO not too much.. I did alot of research on MH lights before my purchase and found that Anwhere from 175w-250w would be acceptable.. I chose the 250s purely due to the fact that I will have a much bigger tank and would be able to also use them on that tank.. So IMO I'd say if the price is right what are you waiting for.. FWIW i paid 155.00 +35.00 s/h for my 2x250w without bulbs.. Bulds were another 65.00ea for the XM bulbs..

HTH,
James

 

[cj10488]

BTW here is a link to the post that has pictures of the tank with the new lights on as well as pictures with the old lighting on old lighting was 6x55watt PCs

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?p=82714#82714

HTH,
James

 

[reefrunner69]

FWIW i paid 155.00 +35.00 s/h for my 2x250w without bulbs.. Bulds were another 65.00ea for the XM bulbs..

Where did you get your ballasts and bulbs?

 

[cj10488]

Lighting and Ballasts were from Cool Touch Lighting on Ebay

And Bulbs were purchased from www.MarineDepot.com

The ballasts are built to order from cool touch lighting and are the standard probe start M58 ballasts and for another $30.00 they can upgrade the ballasts to pulse start i believe is what they offered.. They also have a website at http://aquariumlight.com/

HTH,
James