New 135G tank advice - Metal Halide

[sjungdahl]

I am seting up a new 135 gallon reef. I need advice on metal halide placement/color/type/brand/number/height... for a 6'x2'x18" 135 gallon tank.
I plan to go with mostly soft corals. I know that MH may be a bit overkill but I enjoy the asthetic aspect. Also LED are to expensive for now.

 

[BL1]

Are you planning on a retrofit kit or do you want a manufacturer fixture? Also do you want any T5 supplementation?

 

[sjungdahl]

I need suggestions. I was planning on buying pendant fixtures.

 

[BL1]

You can find pendants here: Metal Halide Aquarium Pendants - AquaCave.com

You'll need three of them on a 6ft tank. I'd go with the 250w fixtures but you may be able to get away with 150s with more soft corals. As far as color, that would be your personal preference, do you want your tank to look really blue, if so go with 20k bulbs. 14-15k will be less blue and 10k will be more yellowish. That will all depend on the look you wa t your tank to have.

 

[sjungdahl]

Cool!! Thanks
I want a natural light look as if snorkling. I'm guessing 14k.

 

[ccCapt]

If you get fixtures with mogul based bulbs, 175w Iwasaki 15k bulbs are one of the best MH bulbs you can get. The put out more PAR than most 250w MH bulbs. The color is very white with just a touch of blue. I used those bulbs for many many years and was very happy with them.

 

[MitchReef]

I have always had extremely good growth and eye-popping color with double ended Phoenix 14,000K bulbs....they are a little bluer than a lot of other 14,000K bulbs but really kick out some growth....

There was also research done that showed that they stay really true to their spectrum right up until they quit firing...and if you cannot afford new bulbs every 6 months or so that is a real advantage....

One of the finest reefers I ever know swore by the ReefLux 12,000K Single ended bulbs....