Help with Lighting

[jntmcduffie]

I am just starting out with saltwater. I want to put coral in my tank but I am unsure of what lighting I will need. I only have a 30 gal tank 19" deep. I was thinking about a metal Halide light 400w. Is that to much? I can get one for less than $100. bulb and all w/20k bulb. Any suggestions?

Thanks
John

 

[darklcd]

I just went though almost the same thing. I was going to go with a 250 watt on a 25 gal that is 22" deep and I was told that I will have heating problems big time. I ended up going with a 150 hqi with 2 24 watt t5s and everyone that I talked to has told me that its by best bet.

I was told that with the 250 I would need to have it 1 to 2 feet off my tank and have fans on the water to keep the temp down and even then it would be tough. having the light from a 400 would be nice but the heat will make things difficult

hope this helps

 

[returnofsid]

In my opinion, 400 watt MH lighting is WAY more than needed and you'd need to keep the lighting so far above the water to eliminate any heating issues that it'd be counter productive. Your lighting needs will depend on the type of corals you're wanting to keep. If you're wanting predominately SPS corals, clams or anemone then you'll need MH or T5HO lighting. 150 watt MH lighting would be adequate. If you're going with soft corals and/or LPS, Compact Fluorescents would be plenty. You could even do a few SPS under Compacts if you choose the right SPS and keep them higher in the tank. Montipora Digitata and Montipora Capricornus are less light demanding than most SPS corals.

 

[roscoe]

I have had both a 250 and a 400 watt metal halide over my 20t at one point. I never had any heat issues. Tank did not get over 80 degrees. I had the lights about 15'' above the water line with a $5 dollar fan blowing across the water surface. I had about a half gallon of evap per day but that was easy to work around I just had a 1 gallon jug of water on top of my canopy and just gravity dripped the replacement water it worked out great.