Upgrading 72 in Hamilton MH/PC hood....

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

nickthapainter

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
106
Location
Stuart, FL
I do not know how old the bulbs are, thus, I will be replacing them over the next few weeks (minimize shocking tank inhabitants).

Fixture currently has: 3 175wt MH (not sure the K rating) and 2 96wt PC (7100k blue). The lights are 12 inches off the water surface. Tank dimensions are 72x24x24.

Eventually, I would like to add some higher light loving animals (clam, SPS corals).

Instead of just replacing the bulbs, should I go ahead and upgrade the ballasts also (175wt to 250wt)?

Any input would be greatly appreciated (especially with regards to K rating of the new bulbs).

TIA

nick
 
I would suggest upgrading the ballasts to the 250w minimum. With 36" total height, you'll be restricting coral placement quite a bit to the top area's of the tank. Given the tank will be primarily SPS and clams, you will need the freedom to place them in various spots throughout the tank. IMO, 400w would be a better goal for a SPS/clam dominated tank with that depth.

I would also swap out the 7100 k's for true actinics at the next opportunity but it's not a must.

Cheers
Steve
 
Cheers Steve!

I think that I will change the 2 outer lights to 250watts and see how the chiller holds up to the extra heat. If everything's o.k. I may swithout the middle bulb for a 400 watter.

I'd like to keep everything as flexible as possible (I like the idead of a mixed reef as opposed to a purely SPS tank).
 
nickthapainter said:
(I like the idead of a mixed reef as opposed to a purely SPS tank).
Then the two outside lights being 250w would help with that idea. Many types of soft and LPS corals would not do well under 3x 400w bulbs.

Cheers
Steve
 
Back
Top Bottom