Supplemental lighting for 250W MH on 24" cube?
 

I was looking for some suggestions for supplementary lighting for my budget conscious 55G cube tank? I have a 250W MH that I will be running for main lighting over SPS, LPS, maybe a clam as well. The tank is a 24" cube.

Charles

with 250W of MH on a 24" cube and having a budget...
i'd just go with a 20k bulb.

A 250W over that tank could keep anything (this is the same set up I have). If you want better colour rendition, a 14K Phoenix bulb or a 20K bulb would do wonders (if you're using SE bulbs you could use the super awesome Radium 20K). My fixture also uses 4x24W KZ Superblue T5s for supplement (though these alone can grow almost anything in the tank) and it's an awesome mix.

What fixture are you using?

If you're handy you could also whip up a fairly cheap LED supplement.

Using a JBJ Viper K2 fixture w/ no supplemental, 14k bulb running 8 hrs per day

Charles

what kind of 14k bulbs?

most people seem to be happy with the color of the phoenix bulbs, white with a blue tint.

what are you trying to do with the supplemental lights? get more blue? dawn and dusk?

if youre trying to get more blue, i'd just move to a 20k bulb.

if youre just trying to do dawn and dusk effects, being on a budget i'd just skip it as it isnt necessary.

Right now I am using a 4 month old 14k from JBJ, stock replacement for the Viper K2 250W MH, not sure what one I will get next.

I am looking to try and find out if I need supplemental light for SPS, LPS and clams in that size tank with that light.

Charles