lighting
 

I m having minor issues with my DIY MH ballast. Was thinking about mabe instaling some other type of lighting to complement my MHs. Now before going all out and finding out later that there might have been a better or cheapper way to go I figured I should find out what other people are using and what results they are getting. I have a mixted reef, LPS,SPS, anemone,fish,clam etc. 90 gals 30 inches deep corner tank ,2x250 MH, 2xatinics now I find that everything is doing ok in there. Just triing to get that little bit extra in growth and colors.Im a little restrained in the canopie because the MHs take up so much space but Im sure I can arrange something up there to fit my needs.Anyone have any IDEAS?

There are a few companies that make T5 retro-fit kits that you may be able to use.

With corner tanks fluorescents can be difficult to use as you can't usually use an array of fluorescent bulbs unless you have a rectangular tank. Best lighting option will likely be multiple small DE MH pendants. With your tank you may also be better running a larger 400W SE bulb in a large reflector such as a lumenarc III. You could then install a few 24" T5 bulbs around the reflector perimeter for supplemental.

Another option, if you're looking to increase growth switch your bulbs to a lower kelvin rating and switch out your actinic lighting to a brighter blue or purple bulb.

Could you explain to me why I would go to 400 watts from 250, cause the way I understand MHs 400 now would be to intense and I think my corals would bleach . Is this understanding out to lunch or what?

no, you're not out to lunch at all!! intense lighting will bleach your corals if you don't acclimate them slowly. However if you install those 400w bulbs at 1 foot higher than your 250s then you will get more coverage and eventually you can start lowering your light 1inch at a time over the course of a few weeks. I think what he was getting at is with limited room over your tank, you might want to go with a single four hundred instead of dual 250s so that you can supplement the mh with more fluorescent.:wink:

As stated you would want to phase it in but it wouldn't be too much light. I run a 400W SE EVC 10K in a lumenarc and 6 39W T5s over a 36x36x24" tank for years, I actually changed my setup to add more light into the tank :surprise: