Too Much Light?

[fireborn230]

Hey guys i have a 16 gal bow front reef and i was looking to upgrade from my current lighting (two power compacts totaling 160w) up to metal halide that would be a total of 380w if i hang it high enough above my tank do you think it is too much light? i just took the wattage and divided it by tank size to come up with 23 watts per gallon with the halide as opposed to my current 9.5 watts per gallon with my pc's. any suggestions would be great! thanks in advance! -Fire

[JR719]

What you are really looking for is PAR value, not so much watts per gallon. What MH are you looking at? With a 16gal, it should not take too large of a MH light. Be careful, don't want to boil your tank. If it is too high, might not be any good.

[fireborn230]

Im not exactly sure what halide im looking for...do you suggest one? I also dont know what you mean by PAR...are you referring to light spectrum?

[Hop]

A lot of reading a head of you:D

this is a good place to start.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=590771

[areze]

I think that may be too much light....

but maybe not. problem is going to be focusing so much light on the tank, your likely to lose a huge amount of your potential.

now depending how high and how mcuh total light is lost, you might be ok. also depends what your keeping, and where. being that its such a small tank though, I think your probably going overkill.

you may have trouble with the easier stuff like mushrooms and such. SPS your not likely ever to **** off unless you put them 10" away right under the water line from a 400w halide.

[luke33]

I'd totally avoid the halide for such a small tank. I'd suggest a small t5 fixture. With what you have now it should suffice pretty much anything. But 2x24" t5's would be much better imo, no heat issue there. If you still want halide, i'd go for a 70-150w

[HowardW]

<<< metal halide that would be a total of 380w if i hang it high enough above my tank do you think it is too much light? >>>



Yes, way too much for a tank that size, even the 160W of PC's you have now should be enough to keep nearly anything in a 16g tank IMO.

[fireborn230]

well the one reason i was interested in going with a halide was because i was looking to get a clam and i know they are very light intensive so i didn't want to be to stingy on wattage so do you guys think my 160W PC's are enough to support a clam or do you think i should go with something more intense i.e. T5's or halide?

[philagothos]

By the time you hang a 300w halide high enough to not boil the water, you'll be losing enough light that you probably would have been better off with a 70w bulb.

I'm with Luke, if you simply MUST have MH, go with a 70w. It will be plenty of light for almost anything in a tank that size. If you are trying some kind of SPS/clam nano you might be able to get away with 150w MH.

[HowardW]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10014551#post10014551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fireborn230
well the one reason i was interested in going with a halide was because i was looking to get a clam and i know they are very light intensive so i didn't want to be to stingy on wattage so do you guys think my 160W PC's are enough to support a clam or do you think i should go with something more intense i.e. T5's or halide?


Well I think as long as you have good water clarity and change the bulbs often enough and keep the lights within 3-4" from the water that 160W of PC's should be enough for that tank.


I don't see how you are fitting 160W PC's over a 16g bowfront though?