What do you think about 250 MH - can't afford Nova Pro

[lightcs4]

I am pretty well set on ordering a generic MH with 250 MH, T5 actinics, and moonlight LED's for $239, including shipping. My budget is $250 and I can't find the NEPs for less than $282, plus shipping. I thought the Nova Extremes would be OK until my wife liked an Acropora (spelling? - blame the wine!). Anything I can do to make my wife more interested in aquaria is a plus so I will purchase lighting that will allow the corals she likes ... plus the Acropora is really nice.

Anyhow, is the MH with 250 MH is over kill for a 46 gal tank? I really want to keep a wide variety of coral, including rocardia, striped mushrooms, and birds nests.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[daugherty]

the 250w is not over kill i run almost 12w per gallon on my tank

[lightcs4]

I really hope the MH work well as they are generics. However, I was concerned that they might be too much for such a small tank.

Thanks.

[daugherty]

they will get hotter. do you have ac in you house
my MH sits about 6-7 in off the water. and my tank stays at 80 but i keep my house at about 65 to 70

[lightcs4]

No, no AC in the house. I find the room it is in gets around lower 70's or upper 60's up here, I'll put on a fan if I need to.

[daugherty]

just keep an eye on it.

[fatman]

If your tank is around 23 inches tall then the 250 would be a good choice. If it is different in size from a standard 45 gallon ( 36" long x 12.5" wide x 23.75" tall) such as much shallower I would consider a 150 a halide instead, especially if you do not use a sump. You would definitely want to encourage water evaporation with 250 watts of halide, plus T-5's on a 46 gallon tank. Try to get at least a gallon a day of evaporation in order to keep the tank cool. That would mean a small fan pulling air across the waters surface. Pulling the air acroos the top of the water will work better than blowing the air across.

[lightcs4]

The tank is a bow front that is 21" tall. I was originally looking at T5's (took your advice and talked to Reeffreak - He was great at providing recommendations on T5s) but the ones I wanted are simply out of my budget. My options appear to be a Nova Extreme at 156 watts, genreic brand MH w/ CF actinics, or generic brand 150 MH with CF actinics (all under $250). I thought picking out a tank was going to be the difficult part but lighting options are driving me crazy . There are too many choices.

I want enough light to keep pretty much anything but no so much that mushrooms or other lower light corals don't do well. However, I definitely want a neon green closed brain coral and will probably want to get a couple acros (it is always good to add something the wife likes). I also hope to frag some corals down the road for the possibility of trading or selling some, but that is a very minor consideration.

The light comes with a 5" stand so it will be approximately 6" off the water. It looks like Daugherty has similar weather as here, so I'll have to watch the temp. I'll be putting a fuge on the back (I'll make it The tank is a bow front that is 21" tall. I was originally looking at T5's (took your advice and talked to Reeffeak - He was great at providing recommendations) but the ones I wanted are simply out of my budget. My options appear to be a Nova Extreme at 156 watts, a 250 MH w/ CF actinics at 442 watts, or a 150 MH with CF actinics at 350 watts.

I want enough light to keep pretty much anything but no so much that mushrooms or other lower light corals don't do well. I don't believe the Nova Extremes have enough light for what I want to do. The 250 watt light comes with a 5" stand so it will be approximately 6" off the water. It looks like Daugherty has similar weather as here, so I'll have to watch the temp. I'll be putting a fuge on the back (I'll make it myself), but that will only add around 10 gal. of water. The tank isn't near a window and the room stays fairly cool, even in the summer (70's in July/Aug).

Thanks for the help in sorting this out.

[fatman]

Originally Posted by lightcs4

The tank is a bow front that is 21" tall. I was originally looking at T5's (took your advice and talked to Reeffreak - He was great at providing recommendations on T5s) but the ones I wanted are simply out of my budget. My options appear to be a Nova Extreme at 156 watts, genreic brand MH w/ CF actinics, or generic brand 150 MH with CF actinics (all under $250). I thought picking out a tank was going to be the difficult part but lighting options are driving me crazy . There are too many choices.

I want enough light to keep pretty much anything but no so much that mushrooms or other lower light corals don't do well. However, I definitely want a neon green closed brain coral and will probably want to get a couple acros (it is always good to add something the wife likes). I also hope to frag some corals down the road for the possibility of trading or selling some, but that is a very minor consideration.

Thanks for the help in sorting this out.

I would with the 250 watt halide recommend a small box fan (say 4") to encourage evaporation. I have to evaporate 3.5 gallons of water off a 120 gallon tank with two 250 watt halides wand two 96 watt PC's that are mounted 5" off the tanks top. I am in Alaska and I keep my apartment at 68 degrees 24 X 7. I use two 4" box fans that are plugged into the halide light timer circuit over the tanks sump. Plus there are two three inch fans in the lighting fixture. They are all just basic computer 12 volt fans. The heaters come on only at night and the only time the chiller comes on is if I open by door too much during the summer. I keep a windoe cracked about 10 foot from the tank all year round so as to maintain a low house CO2 level and therefore a low tank CO2 level. Without the fans I only evaporate about 1.5 gallons and the chiller runs about 10 minutes out of every hour the halides are on. The two little fans are definitely cheaper to run then the chiller.
Most Acros require 40 X to 60 X circulation, unless your talking monti's. They will like the intense light from a 250 watt halide though.

[lightcs4]

That pretty well settles it then. I'll use a fan with the 250 MH and keep up on the top-offs. It should be ordered tonight. I'll also be getting another Koralia #2 before I get any Acros, probably before I get any corals at all. The price on them seems so small after looking for lights.

Thanks.