MH's for a 20??

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately im not rich and have 2 other tanks..both of which are freshwater.. i have a 20 gal with a custom built canopy running PC's..I can get MH's really cheap as in free..My father-in-law is an Electrician..all i have to do is purchase reef type bulbs... however considering i dont have vaulted ceilings to strap these puppies up too high and was wonderin is really necessary to have MH's in such a shallow, small tank?? I have an SPS that flourished under NO flourescents btw..

 

[Anonymous]

> is really necessary to have MH's in such a shallow, small tank??

No.

 

[hillbilly]

> is really necessary to have MH's in such a shallow, small tank??

No.

Cool, yes!

 

[Len]

Hehe. To expound on DM's terse response, it's not necessary but if you can keep the heat in check, it's a nice addition. I had a 70W double ended 10KK MH on my 12 gallon and it did much better with it then when I only had power compacts. I then switched to a 150W 50KK Iwasaki (medium based bulb) and it did even better. So I guess the experience to be learned is even with smaller tanks, MHs are very useful.

 

[Anonymous]

See my whole worry is the heating issue...then buying a chiller to overcome the heating issue and so forth... i live in an apt and i dont have vaulted ceilings or anything...i guess i know its not necessary since i am NOT currently running MH's, however, i was wondering even in the shallow tank will most SPS be fine, just under PC..

 

[ChrisRD]

If you don't mind running the tank open-top, you can light it with a single pendent. That should keep the heating problem to a minimum. You can always use an eggcrate top to help keep the jumpers in.

You can certainly keep SPS under PCs in that tank - you don't need the halides. Not all SPS corals require the intensity of MHs to thrive. That said, I agree with Len, and IMO with the halide you'll probably have success with a wider range of SPS corals.