Newbie lighting question....

m3ntal · 02/16/2006, 10:34 PM

I'm a newbie and I thought I should have put this into The equipment forum but anyway here it goes...

When putting my whole system together I bought an Odyssea 260w PC unit off ebay on impulse.

I now realized that I want to go with a MH unit.

My tank is a 55 gallon, 4 feet long, and about 16 inches deep. I've been looking at the 250watt Hamilton Reefsun and Reefstar Units.

Would you guys recommend this size/wattage pendant for my tank or will i need a dual setup?

I hear you need a unit for every 2 feet of tank but that sounds overkill to me.

Thanks in advance

m3ntal · 02/16/2006, 10:38 PM

Crap, I just read a few threads down and there is the same topic...Nevermind!

egdevilboy · 02/16/2006, 10:53 PM

Guessing you read my thread.

The 250s worked good but i just used 2x32w Actinics to supplement.

You can always go with 2x175w to lessen the intensity.

mg426 · 02/16/2006, 11:18 PM

the light that you bought off of ebay is not the worst thing in the world. 260 watts on a 55 (16 inches deep) is a fair amount of light, even pc. You can keep about anything except SPS and clams. But halides are the best for sure.

m3ntal · 02/16/2006, 11:21 PM

Thanks for the info.

I also wanted the halides because its more pleasing to my eyes

02/16/2006, 10:34 PM	#1
m3ntal Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 122	Newbie lighting question.... I'm a newbie and I thought I should have put this into The equipment forum but anyway here it goes... When putting my whole system together I bought an Odyssea 260w PC unit off ebay on impulse. I now realized that I want to go with a MH unit. My tank is a 55 gallon, 4 feet long, and about 16 inches deep. I've been looking at the 250watt Hamilton Reefsun and Reefstar Units. Would you guys recommend this size/wattage pendant for my tank or will i need a dual setup? I hear you need a unit for every 2 feet of tank but that sounds overkill to me. Thanks in advance

02/16/2006, 11:18 PM	#4
mg426 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: maryland Posts: 6,923	the light that you bought off of ebay is not the worst thing in the world. 260 watts on a 55 (16 inches deep) is a fair amount of light, even pc. You can keep about anything except SPS and clams. But halides are the best for sure. __________________ I found a way to make a small fortune running a reef tank. Start with a large fortune. Unofficial President of the SEACLONE haters club Current Tank Info: 125 mixed reef 110 lbs LR, 1x250watt XM 20K MH 2x175watt XM 20K MH on Magetics 2X96 watt actinic PC, 220 watt VHO actinic, 30 gallon refugium, closed loop system powered by Sequence Dart MSX 200 skimmer 38 gallon sump, Oceansmotions squirt

02/16/2006, 10:38 PM	#2
m3ntal Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 122	Crap, I just read a few threads down and there is the same topic...Nevermind!

02/16/2006, 10:53 PM	#3
egdevilboy Moved On Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Southern Florida Posts: 620	Guessing you read my thread. The 250s worked good but i just used 2x32w Actinics to supplement. You can always go with 2x175w to lessen the intensity.

02/16/2006, 11:21 PM	#5
m3ntal Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 122	Thanks for the info. I also wanted the halides because its more pleasing to my eyes