Another lighting question...

[Rek84]

I have a 75 gallong "long" tank, 18 inches high, a little over 4 feet long. I currently have 4 VHO lights.

Thinking about upgrading 2 of the VHO's to metal halide. Only thing is, because of the design of the cabinet (built into the wall in a bookshelf), the only way I can do this is to remove the 2 outer VHO bulbs, and place the metal halide in the center.

If I add a 175 or 250 metal halide in the CENTER of the tank, and keep 2 of the VHO's, will this generate enough light throughout the entire tank? Also, will the heat from the metal halide being in such close proximity to the VHO's cause a problem? I do have 2 cooling fans. Any advice you guys can give me on this will be appreciated. Will this even make much of a difference??

 

[Entacmaea]

Does the 75 long have a center brace? If so I would probably not put a mH right over the center brace. If you can spring for two 175's, that is the way to go, one on each side. Or put one in now, have a "zoned" tank until you can afford the other 175...

Without knowing more specific measurments of your hood, i can't really say whether the MH would be too close to your VHO's. I think maybe 3 inches between bulbs would be a safe measure...