Compact Lighting for 30 inch tank

[badfish]

I am looking into getting corals in the future, i was told around 200 watts of Compact lighting would be good for most of the easier corals, problem is i cant seem to find any above 135 Watts in 30 inch strips. Does anyone know a brand i should look into getting, is 135 watts good enough, my tank is 20.5 inches tall. [acronym:4e2aa0d0ed="Thanks in Advance"]TIA[/acronym:4e2aa0d0ed].

[electrikat]

You may need to go with 2 units for 260wpg or maybe check into a mh pendent at 175w or 250w. Are you going to build a canopy or do you want something to sit on or hang over the tank?

[badfish]

so they dont make a 30 inch that puts out 200 watts, that kind of stinks. I kind of didnt want to go [acronym:22fdb9e78e="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:22fdb9e78e] because i would keep easier corals and didnt want to spend all of the money on that. (this is just my begginer tank, i plan on getting at least a hundred in a year or two, so dont want to blow everything on this one). i was looking into building my own canopy in the future as well, which is why i dont want a pendant. would i be able to keep any corals with a 130 watt unit? Why do they make 130 watt units if they cant support corals? Thanks again Kat, you have been really helpful.

- Jeff

[electrikat]

I have the 130 watt unit on my 20g so that's 6.5 [acronym:d94a6ebae6="Watts Per Gallon"]wpg[/acronym:d94a6ebae6] which is excellent for anything I could ever want. If you plan on building a canopy I've found a mh 250 retrofit kit for 145$ and you could always transfer it to the new one later if you wanted to . Let me see if I can paste the link in here.
http://www.hellolights.com/25methalbalk.html

[badfish]

would this metal halide unit work (Corallife 24" Aqualife pro)

http://www.captivereefs.com/captiver...CatID=lt-mh24#

[dr_girlfriend]

you could stager 2 24" light fixtures. Jebo makes a 24" with 110 watts for $40.

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp...PROD&ProdID=23

Or, if you wanted to build your own canopy, you could get a ballast set from www.ahsupply.com. I think the 4 or 6x55 watt sets would be what youre looking for.

[arminkropp]

I'm building a caonpy that can run 4x100 watts [acronym:4735ac7748="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:4735ac7748]'s
All the hardware(not the wood and paint) under 300 CDN( around $240 US)
I'm gonna run 2x100 for now and the run 4x100 when needed.

[Salttanker]

I'm with Kat. Retro [acronym:c68f420733="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:c68f420733] isn't that costly anymore. I picked up 2 of them for $150 each that included the bulbs. With [acronym:c68f420733="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:c68f420733], you won't be limited. Eventually, you will find that coral that you must have, but it will most likely require greater lighting for it to succeed. I think we have all been there. Get the lighting done right the first time, and you will save $$$.

Mike

[badfish]

I agree with all of you, thanks for all your help. Getting it right the first time will be cheaper in the long run. ArminKropp, keep me posted with building your canopy, since we have the same tank, im sure i will be doing something similar to you (canopy). For those with Metal Halide, did your electric bill skryrocket after using them? I still have a couple of months before i do them, just wanted to see what i was getting into.

[electrikat]

Mine didn't have a noticeable rise.(electric)