lighting on 55 gallon

[dia_cero2002]

I'm setting up a 55 gallon reef tank. I want to get a couple of clams also. I have seen several light systems for sale on ebay. But the only thing I can find in a 48" dimension is 760 watts. That's way too much for my 55 gallon tank. It has two halides, both 250 doubled eneded hqi's. If the ballast is electronic, can i replace the 250 bulbs with 150 or 175 watt bulbs? Thanks.

 

[waterbeing]

dia_cero2002,
No, unfortunately you have to match the bulb with the ballast, so if you have 250W ballasts, you will need to stick with 250W bulbs. :sad:
On the other note about 760w being too much, what combination is generating that wattage - 2 x 250 MH + ?????. Also, depending on what you want to keep and how far the fixture is from the tank, that *may not* be too much wattage. We have a 55g with 2 x 175w MH + 2 - 110w? VHO = 570w Total, and that is OK, but wasn't quite enough to support our SPS/clams the way we wanted. If you could get a reasonable price for that setup, I'd seriously think about it myself. JMO
Doug

 

[dia_cero2002]

It's 2x250 metal halide with four pc's at 260 watts. It's one of the long black fixtures, all one piece, with mounting legs. I'd say it's probably going to be 4-5" above the water. I was thinking I could run the pc's in the morning and evening and the halides during midday. What do you think? Also, I think the price was around $379 for the entire setup including shipping.

 

[Guest]

if i were you go away from pc bulbs go with t5 supplementation lighting....the bulbs prob at least two to three times less than pc bulbs plus t5's are better in my opinion

 

[dia_cero2002]

@waterbeing wrote:

The 760 watts comes from two 250 watt halides, and four 65 watt power compacts. If I ran the pc's during the morning and evening and the halides during the middle of the day, would that setup be good? Because I do want to have sps, clams, and some soft corals.

 

[waterbeing]

@kuyatwo wrote:

dia_cero2002,

The setup you describe would be sufficient to do what you want, but I do agree with kuyatwo/pampee in that the T5's or VHO's would still be a better choice in my opinion. I have T5, MH, VHO, and Compact Flourescent bulbs and I do prefer the T5/VHO over the CF bulbs. It's a matter of choice on your part though, but unless the sale is going away quickly, I'd review several other lighting options with MH,T5/VHO combos myself. HTH

Doug

 

[dia_cero2002]

@waterbeing wrote:

dia_cero2002,

The setup you describe would be sufficient to do what you want, but I do agree with kuyatwo/pampee in that the T5's or VHO's would still be a better choice in my opinion. I have T5, MH, VHO, and Compact Flourescent bulbs and I do prefer the T5/VHO over the CF bulbs. It's a matter of choice on your part though, but unless the sale is going away quickly, I'd review several other lighting options with MH,T5/VHO combos myself. HTH

Doug"]

So, if I ran the halides during the day and power compacts in the morning and evening, it wouldn't be too much wattage? Also, I'm going with power compacts because, for that price, I can't find t5's or vho's.

 

[Guest]

it will work fine just the other bulbs are better but it will work

if it is odyssa brand pass on it. i know in the past they had problems starting fires

 

[NathanSE]

You could get a 4-6 lamp T5 kit for that amount of money as well and it would be more than enough for clams and acros.

 

[bimmerzs]

@kuyatwo wrote:

They actually fixed that issue, all ballast are external and better quality. From what I've read Odyssea actually outsells most other aquarium lighting, they are decent for what you are getting but the bulbs they use are crap and may last 6-8 months so if it is Odyssea, budget for name brand bulbs for the fixture.

Cheers!