From PC to MH?

[molybdenumman]

I was wondering what the pros and cons are to moving into MH lighting. I have a 50g hagan tank with 2X55W PC lights (10000K) and 1 coralife actinic 03 blue.

I have 40-50 lbs live rock and several corals (candycane, colt, open brain) and three anenomes. Tank = LXWXH = 48" X 12" X 18"

What wattage should I be aiming for?

Would it be easier to buy a new ballast and lights or could I DIY with the PC setup?

If so, then who should I go through to get a MH setup?


These probably seem like simple questions to most of you, but I never profeesed to be anything other than simple.

MoMan

[bluetang]

I"m definately no expert on MH lighting but would suggest a PFO LIGHTING
deluxe hood. For what you have in your tank right now you can easily get a way with 2X175Watt bulbs with two VHO Actinics. THe thing is your tank is 4ft long so if you went with one bulb you would have a large dead spot.
If you want to toss in some hard corals you can move up to 250 Watters.
I would probably stay with 175watters due to the fact you only have 50 gallans in a 4 ft tank and your temp could go sky high. Tough choice..

[christyf5]

I had 2x250W on my 50G tank. No problems with heat at all. I did use 2 radioshack fans on the hood though.

Depends on what you want to keep. At the time I was interested in getting a maxima clam and had heard that 250 was better than 175 for the depth of the tank. Some say yes, some say no. A deal came up on teh 250s and I couldn't resist it

Christy

[Jedi68]

I was running 4-55w PC over my 77gal tank; it was working pretty good, but I wanted clams and SPS so I made the transition to MH.
It opened up so many options for me and things came alive and grew. Maybe my new skimmer and new calcium reactor has something to do with the growth.
I bought a used 2-250w radium MH set up, 2 new optimal reflectors, built my own canopy and incorporated the PC's. You could either wait for someone to sell his/her old MH set up or get something from your LFS for about $600
How did I come up with $600?
Dual PFO $229
PFO mogul sockets with optimal reflectors 2x$69
MH lights 2x$100; then you have to feed the gov't and wam...$600.
If you are a handy man, you might be able to get away with being $450 poorer.
Another option would be to wait and see what SunAquatics might come up with their new line of electronic MH set up.
Yes, it's a money pit, but I love my addiction...

[robbyville]

MoMan,

Like the others say, it'll cost you but if you want to keep nice corals MH's are a nice way to go. I would also suggest the dual 250's, these will allow you to keep everything that you could ever want, and the difference in price between 175w and 250w are minimal.

Still, the overall set-up and system will cost a pretty penny. I would keep your pc system for actinic supplementation, since selling them would not be huge boost to the pocket book.

Good luck,

Rob