how many halides will fit?

[LoJack]

I have an All Glass 92 Gallon bowfront tank.

the sides are 35" long and the front bowed glass is approximately 56" bowed.

my question is, I wanted to buy a 250 Watt Halide for it ... will this be enough, will it cover the footprint of the tank, or should i supplement with some type of PC?

the tank is 24" tall, will a 250 watt penetrate to the bottom. I want to keep both stony coral as well as softies and clams

[LoJack]

I have read different information, but what is the optimal height to hang a halide over the water?

Also, can a glass lid still be used over the tank ... or will it have to be wide open?

[kgross]

Your answer depends. If you want lots of sps corals and clams, I would suggest a 400 watt halide, in a lumen arc 3 reflector, for a few sps with softies and lps mixed in I think a 250 in a lumen arc 3 would work very well for that tank. The main reason you would want to supplement with PC's or other light though is more for the color than the intensity.

Optimal height, depends, for the LA3 to light up your whole tank, I would put the bottom of reflector about 12 inches above the water, that will allow the light to spread out over the 35 inches of length. With other reflectors you will have to very the height to get the correct spread of light. In general I say mount your lights as close to the tank as you can, since the light intensity goes up the closer to the bulb you are.

Glass lid, yes you can if you want to.

Kim

[trojan9137]

The 250w MH should be fine for LPS, clams, and softies. I dont have experience with SPS so cant comment there. I can attest to the light penetration for the dimensions given. Just get a nice reflector (not one of those white ones - yuk!)