Too much light?

[severum mama]

Hey all, we are looking at purchasing a used light fixture from a fellow reef club member. He's told us that the fixture is a Current Outer Orbit, 2x 250W MH and 4x 39W T5. It seems to be a good deal for $350, but we are wondering if it will be too much light for our tank. The tank is 50 gallons, dimensions are 36"x18"x18". We'd like to be able to keep pretty much anything as far as corals, clams, etc. but want to make sure that the tank doesn't just become an algae factory. We have an RO unit and TDS meter so source water is not an issue as far as introducing extra nutrients into the system. Any feedback is appreciated, thanks!

[roka64]

That's quite a bit of light for a 50. I don't believe you really need MHs on anything less than 20 inches deep. You would be talking an awful lot of evaporation and heat issues, unless you can hang the fixture higher off of the tank and run a fan across the surface......

[severum mama]

Oh, I know it's a ton of light. I just thought I would ask since it seems like such a great deal. I have a light for it now, but it's only 2x 96W PC. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a 4x or 6x 39W HO T5 strip, but they seem to go VERY quickly around here when used! LOL.

So would you say it's a bad idea? Assuming there are separate power cords, could I run the HO T5's all day, and the MH's for 4-6 hrs a day? Or (and forgive my ignorance here), is it possible to replace the MH bulbs with bulbs that have a lower wattage?

If it's a bad idea I certainly won't buy this fixture, but it's soooo close in price to the T5 fixture new. Dangit.... I should have gotten the 65 Megaflow... same footprint. LOL

[melosu58]

Moved to General hardware and equipment discussion.

[mgamer20o0]

could always turn off a bulb or two.

[Ziggy953]

I think I would look for a dual 150w MH setup rather then 250s. That is as much light as I have on my 120g tank. I really think that is too much light for a 50g tank.

If you look at the WPG that is 13.1wpg, I know that is an outdated measure of light but still way too high for that sized tank. I think you would create more issues then benefits if you put that over your tank.

[severum mama]

I appreciate the input guys. We're going to pass this one up and wait it out until we can get a good deal on a T5 fixture.

Thanks again!