72 gal Bow Front - Metal Halide lighting

pierceit · 01/03/2008, 05:35 PM

Hi Folks -
Any advice on metal halide lighting for my 72 gal bow front? I want to keep the lights hidden inside the hood.

The bow front is 48" wide, about 11 inches deep on the ends, and about 18" in the middle of the bow. The hood is about 7" tall.

I want lights that will allow me to put whatever critters, corals, clams, etc. that I want in there without having to worry about having enough light. Right now I have a nice compact flouresent unit that is fine for softies, but even they struggel from time to time.

Most of the metal halide units I have liked so far that have both compact flouresents and two 250w bulbs are 15" deep -- which doesn't fit inside the hood.

any suggestions?

thanks,
Ron

Neptune420 · 01/08/2008, 01:33 PM

Retrofit. I had problems finding good lights to fit over my 70g bow. I got a retro kit from hellolights.com 2 250w hqi MH, 2 39w T5HO. Includes reflectors, ballasts, bulbs, wiring, and endcaps/sockets all for about 500 bucks. Sounds like alot but I could'nt find much else for cheaper at least not name brand. The reflectors are 36" and with the MH and T5 its only 10" all together.

pierceit · 01/13/2008, 10:31 AM

awesome advice - I think this is what I am goign to do too.

thanks for the url

regards,
Ron

01/03/2008, 05:35 PM	#1
pierceit Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 10	72 gal Bow Front - Metal Halide lighting Hi Folks - Any advice on metal halide lighting for my 72 gal bow front? I want to keep the lights hidden inside the hood. The bow front is 48" wide, about 11 inches deep on the ends, and about 18" in the middle of the bow. The hood is about 7" tall. I want lights that will allow me to put whatever critters, corals, clams, etc. that I want in there without having to worry about having enough light. Right now I have a nice compact flouresent unit that is fine for softies, but even they struggel from time to time. Most of the metal halide units I have liked so far that have both compact flouresents and two 250w bulbs are 15" deep -- which doesn't fit inside the hood. any suggestions? thanks, Ron

01/08/2008, 01:33 PM	#2
Neptune420 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Anderson, IN Posts: 77	Retrofit. I had problems finding good lights to fit over my 70g bow. I got a retro kit from hellolights.com 2 250w hqi MH, 2 39w T5HO. Includes reflectors, ballasts, bulbs, wiring, and endcaps/sockets all for about 500 bucks. Sounds like alot but I could'nt find much else for cheaper at least not name brand. The reflectors are 36" and with the MH and T5 its only 10" all together. __________________ Do it right the first time. Current Tank Info: 70 bowfront mixed reef (black/orange ocellaris pair, spotted mandarin), 90g community (harliqiuin tusk wrasse, purple tang, flame angel, snowflake eel, pajama cardinal), 45g pentagon corner tank w/ mangroves, 4 erectus, 4 redi), 75 sump for 90 70 &am

01/13/2008, 10:31 AM	#3
pierceit Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 10	awesome advice - I think this is what I am goign to do too. thanks for the url regards, Ron