Metal Halide question

[Clown Monarch]

I'm trying to figure out how to light my 44 pentagon. I found a 250 metal halide retro kit with which I'm going to build my own hood. Do you think 250 watts is too much light for a 44 gal tank?

Should I also get some kind of actinic light in the tank? How high should I build the hood to keep heat away from the water?

 

[Biggen]

Do you think 250 watts is too much light for a 44 gal tank?

Really depends on what you want too keep. If you are only wanting to keep softies or mushrooms, I would say a 250w MH would be overkill. But if you are wanting to keep SPS and certain LPS, a 250w is perfect.

I run a 250w MH plus two 55w 03 PC on my 40 gallon which is dominated by SPS coral.

Should I also get some kind of actinic light in the tank?

I love 03's. The corals give off a great fluorescent look when lit with actinic bulbs. Some also say the corals grow faster and have better coloration when using this bulbs. I would say yes, go for it!

How high should I build the hood to keep heat away from the water?

The bottom of the MH bulbs needs to be a minimum of 6"-8" off the top of the water. Mine is about 10".

 

[Clown Monarch]

Excellent, thanks for the tips, Biggen.

The 250 MH I found is the most economical solution for the "tough to light" shape of the 44. Do you think this will burn other corals?

I found mini-hoods that have 26 watt PC lamps. I think I can fit 2 in there for 52 watts of actinic light.

 

[Biggen]

Do you think this will burn other corals?

If you decide to keep lower lighting requirement corals you can always place them lower in the rock work/tank. I have my torch and candy cane coral place near the bottom of the tank as they don't like the MH at all.

I found mini-hoods that have 26 watt PC lamps. I think I can fit 2 in there for 52 watts of actinic light.

Sweet!