300 W MH to much?

[FroggyFeet]

Would 2 K-2 Viper 150 W Mh be to much for a 20 tall? I want my to keep the colors (excuse my spelling) acro. tortuosa. 150 made it brown out so if figure another should bring the color back......suggestions welcome!

[the_anti_honda]

Its probably not the lighting that browned out your coral. Look into issues that are likely to do so. Alk fluctuations or a drop, high po4, Etc... You should be able to keep any coral under the sun with 150HQI in a 20gallon tank.

[reefman13]

I had a friend who had problems keeping a monti in a 30g with a 150W lamp, and he had good flow and the cap was perched in the highest and closest spot to the light. And even then adding one more 150W to a 20g will just make it all that much better, and the corals that much happier too.

My $0.02

[glassbox-design]

you can grow just about any acro under a 150 MH. it's not the lighting that is the issue, it's the water. if it browns out, you have nutrient problem.

eric

[reefer1024]

I think 2 lights would be fine, but its not really needed. Vipers dont have the best reflectors. 2 lights will give you much better coverage in a 24" aquarium.

[Jimbo327]

It's the light spectrum, not the intensity.

[glassbox-design]

It's the light spectrum, not the intensity.

some different spectrums can do interesting things...look at the spectral plot of reeflux bulbs and then look at a blue sps under them :eek2: but except for a few, most aquarium marketed bulbs have the correct spectrum to get the most desirable colors out of the corals we keep.

enhancing the colors with color spots, actinics, pink tubes etc... is a different story though.