Lighting for a 20 H

[super-cichlid]

I'm going to be starting up a 20 H reef setup and have hit a block. I can get 3 PC fixtures with a total wattage of 390 W for less than the cost of a 250 W MH stand alone fixture. Even for less than a PC/MH fixture that has 280 W total.

My question is can I get away without getting the MH? I'll be keeping a Sebae anemone, a LBTA, Frogspawn coral, Brain coral, Green star polyps, and a little zoo garden. I think that is all the light relevent life.

What's the verdict?

[super-cichlid]

Anyone? Anyone?? Any help would be much appriciated

[bigbenji]

You won't get the wave/ripple effect with the powercompacts, even if your livestock doesn't need it. I had to go with MH just for that. In my experience (about 1 yr) its better to spend more the first time around than to upgrade later. Look in the used selling forum. That's the other thing, buy used when you can. You might be able to save half on some things.

[Wryknow]

Hmmm. Your key species in this will be the anemone, which requires a lot of light (and may not be a good candidate to share a 20 gallon tank with the other inhabitants that you have listed.) The thing to remember here is that the whole watts/gallon rule is just a rule of thumb and not nearly as important as you may have been led to believe. A watt is a measure of power consumption and not usable light. For this reason I would recommend a MH fixture over the PCs, even if the PCs have more watts. I'm not sure that a 250W MH will be necessary on a 20 gallon tank though. You will proabably be just fine with a single 150 or 175 DE HQI bulb for practically any species in a tank of that size. Also, please take some time to do some research on the Clowfish/Anemone forum for more specific advice on anemone requirements.

[super-cichlid]

So here is another question. How hard is it to take a MH kit and make my own fixture?