lighting for a 75 reef

[Small Fry]

im sorry but im flustered right now

i Have a 250 watt 10k MH pendant rigt now and am looking at getting a 75 gallon tank, what do i need to add to make this tank able to support pretty much all high-light corals
I'm listening to some podcasts to try and find what an ideal watts per gallon measure is, but im giving up.

Sorry for the newbie question, but i need to get prices worked out now to see if i can afford a 75 gallon reef, i am being rushed :(

[Raggamuffin]

Don't let yourself be rushed..... that is the one true fatal flaw in this hobby. My answer to your question tho is. /shrug dunno I use PC's and they do just fine with the right placement of corals so I never even bothered looking at MH. Of coarse that may change tho if I decide to get that clam is was looking at today.......

[pham411]

hey there SF, i have a 75g tank myself. i use a pfo hood with 2 150 de mh bubls with 2 vho super actinics. it does the job pretty well. imo you need another 250w pendant and some t5 or vho actinics for suplimentation.

[Small Fry]

lol, good advice id say, but i have two options open to me right now, a 75g, 20g, or a 27g. I believe if i were to use my MH in a 20 gallon anything would be fried with 12.5 watts per gallon (tell me if thats wrong), it would be better in a 27 gallon with 9.3 watts per gallon (can that support anythign w/o frying it??). I'm Trying to spend as little ccash as possible but if it is necesary to do so, then i'll do it

Oh, it took to long to type this i didnt see your post, how many watts in total are you running in your system and what do you keep if you dont mind me asking??

[Rob]

small fry, first off, dont worry about measuring your needs based on watts per gallon. its almost completely irrelevant. ;)

that said, if you have one 250W 10K pendant, i would say the easiest option would be to just get a second.

a single 250w is enough light for a 2'x2' area, and is good for up to 18-20"deep. you can use them on deeper tank, up to 24" but they intensity at the bottom of the tank drops off.

[Small Fry]

that clears up alot rob thanks. But i actually worked out alot and with various things coming up i wont be able to afford the seventy-five gallon tank (shux :()

so right now im looking at a 20-27 gallon tank (which is really the perfect tank for the space i have). But im just wondering now if ill be safe putting that many watts in a tank that size, will there be issues other than heat??

[Rob]

yep, you might just want to keep it bit higher than normal.
the light and heat should be ok, then you can lower if you feel its needed.
if heat is still an issue, a small fan works wonders.. ;)

[gwen_o_lyn]

Josh, I have 12.5 watts per gallon *which means nothing* over my nano *pic in signature.*

Heat was a serious issue and wasn't easily to stabilize right off the bat. I have it perfect now though, but it took me a few months to get right.

Try and go with the bigger tank. If this is your first saltwater tank, the larger volume is more forgiving of errors. Also it will help with the heat issue too. Plan to have a fan blowing across the tank when the lights are on. The small fans built inside fixtures won't do much for you.

What are the measurements of the 27g? This will help determine what you can keep. SPS obviously won't be a problem. However, low light softies may not like your tank.

I do recommend reef salt to give the extra calcium boost you will need for SPS. I have the Seachem Reef Salt and it works great.

[Small Fry]

i don't have any other tank yet, and im waiting back to hear from the guy with the 27, but i had been basing the tank size on the WPG ratio, and from what rob told me im goin witht the biggest tank i can get without needing more lights, im going to try for a 30"Lx38"tx20"d, the tank master that i use to calculate actual tank sizes based on volume is offline right now so w/e. But im planning that with a 20 gallon tank for a fuge which someone is selling for fifteen bux, and a hob skimmmer box and sump that my uncle is giving me, should be fun.

And gwen, what u said about crap hitting the fan fast in a nano, u were dead on the money