Ok now that I see how cool MH lighting is...

[markglover]

What kind of fixture should I put on my 55g? It is 48" L 19.5" H x 12 1/4" D. Is one 250 enough? Any recommendations would be very appreciated

 

[dailydriven911]

What do you plan to keep? sps? lps? softies?

 

[markglover]

Right now it softies and fish. I will be adding LPS soon and it appears that MH makes the color pop better. Or maybe I switch bulbs in my 48" PC , I am running 4x65w 12k daylight and actinics

 

[Snowboarda42]

You might consider doing two 150's instead, maybe two 250's if you want SPS eventually.

 

[Bainic]

I bought a setup off of ebay, pretty nice, 2 X 250's, 4 X 65W actinics, and 6 blue moon LEDs. Right now I only keep softies and my two anemones, but it's good to know that I can get SPS or LPS if I want to.

 

[darklcd]

with a 48" tank you will need at least a 2 bulb fixture. As Bainic said ebay has a lot off really good stuff.

MH bulbs are bright yes but going with 250s might be a bit over kill they will work but you will have to hang them high off the tank. Unless you want to keep sps there really is no problem with 150s or 175s if you are worried about light penatration I picked upa 150 for my 25 gal and its 22" deep and everyone that i have talked to told me its more then enough.

when I have my 55 set up and I was looking for a MH fixture I found one on ebay for I think 350 or so that was 48" with 2 150s and 2 t5s and it would have worked great. to tell ya the truth I just ordered his little brother for my 25 gal.

just do a search on ebay for a metal halide 48" and you will find lots of stuff

have a look hope this helps

 

[seawandrr]

As others have said, a 4' tank probably needs at least 2 fixtures, not just one.

A trend one sees is people upgrading from 175w systems to 250 and 400w as they upgrade tanks (or decide they want to go full SPS and increase PAR)

So, if you keep an eye open here, and on other well known forum's used equipment selling areas, you can often find really good deals on 175w setups.

Also, since demand at the 175w level has tapered off, you'll find new equipment discounted steeply now and then. (a recent example was new 175w Icecap Electronic Ballasts for $69 each)

What kind of fixture should I put on my 55g? It is 48" L 19.5" H x 12 1/4" D. Is one 250 enough? Any recommendations would be very appreciated

 

[edwing206]

I bought 2x250 from 2 people here. 50 bucks each. Just gotta keep an eye out for good stuff.
FWIF I run the 2x250's on my 55 gallon.

PS. Hows the puffer Kurt?

 

[seawandrr]

PS. Hows the puffer Kurt?

Thread hijack!

He's great... didn't look like he was going to make it with another sharp-nosed that was twice his size and a bit territorial, so He's temporarily in the sump of my big reef (rough life, the only fish in 40-something gallon fuge with lots of live rock, sand, and a nice floating chaeto ball to hide under)

He's eating fine, and I've moved up the schedule for getting my office nano up and running so he can have a permenant home there.

~K

 

[edwing206]

That's good. Glad he is well.
Now back on topic, keep looking for those deals markglover!