Upgrading Lighting, Any pointers/Specifics?

[Squado]

Right now I have a 130 watt, 50/50 and actinic, and a 70 watt mh pendant behind the fixture. I want to upgrade the lighting to only metal halide and was wondering how many watts to go with. Since I have a 29 gallon, the dimensions are a little strange and am most likely going to with a pendant (since most combo fixtures do not fit well on the tank). Anyway, what spectrum and wattage should I go with. I was either thinking 150 or 250 since the price does not jump to bad between the two. Another question, is there a difference between going with a double ended bulb and a screw in type bulb? Does anyone have a specific brand that is good? Right now I have been looking at the hamilton pendants at 20K, since their will be no actinic supplementation. So what do you think, 150 or 250 and is Hamilton a good brand? All of my corals are bascially LPS, but I would like to add some acros, clams, and/or neon colored ricordea's or zoos. Opinions? TIA............

[Devilishturtles]

IMHO a 150 watt would be plenty for you. Since you don't want to run any actinic supplementation, I'd check out a 14k or 20k. Some think the 20k is too blue, so maybe a 14k would suit your tastes. From my understanding DE bulbs put out about the same light as a SE lamp, but DE reflects much better into the tank. Some good brands to look into would be Ushio, IceCap, XM. I've heard of Hamilton but never read anything good/bad about it.

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

[Squado]

Right now I have 130 watts of pc (50/50 and actinic) and a 70 watt mh on my 29 gallon. I was wondering which pendant to go with, as the 29's dimensions are not as compatible with its length in regaurds to a all-in-one hood system. A couple questions about the light. Is their a difference between double ended bulbs and screw in bulbs, quality wise? And which wattage should I go with - 150 or 250? I will most likley be going with 20k as their will be no actinic lights. Not only does mh look better IMO, but I would like to be able to keep acros, clams, and some neon zoos or some ricordea. Any suggestions?

[Squado]

But would it be worse for the tank if I got the 250 watt pendant? Im looking to be sticking with these lights for a while and dont want to upgrade again. Is 250 too much or not neccesary? I would like to be able to keep practically anything and was wondering if the 250 would be overkill.

[melosu58]

For a 29 gallon I would almost think that the 150 would be plenty. Moving this to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

[Devilishturtles]

With a 250 on a 29 gallon I would think besides heat issues, you'd have over-lighting issues, yes. IMO it's sorta both too much and no neccesary. Since the tank isn't that deep, you're already going to have more than enough light in the tank. If you want to go with a 250 you can, you're just going to have to watch your lower light corals, maybe even shading them some from the light. It's gonna use up more electricity too.

[melosu58]

I merged both these Threads together since they are the same thing.