Wayne Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 (edited) Hello, I have a 30" tank which has 4 24w T5HO bulbs in it (in two housings). I have hard corals and a clam which most say require more light then I have... I have positioned them as high as I can on the live rock and am most likely going to get some more live rock to push them up even further. I am really considering a Metal Halide Retrofit Kit with a smaller bulb (150w) and just gutting one of the light fixtures and mounting a retrofit kit in so my corals/clam have enough lighting and keeping the other housing with T5's. Will this work? I am trying to keep costs down because this is a temporary tank (till I move and go bigger). Any suggestions on brands or experiences? Oh on a side note I also have soft corals they are very low and at the front, so Metal Halide would be in the rear housing... Edited May 31, 2010 by Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuz Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 as far as cheap these have done me no harm!!! http://shop.aquatraders.com/Metal-Halide-System-s/10.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky_Fish14 Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Your T5's are high output T5's. As long as your clam etc... are not beside where the light is (above them) then you should have no problem. People keep clams under 2 T5 HO tubes often and it works fine. Even SPS will be fine under those lights. As long as the lights are within 6-8" of the top of the water or less then your good! (for reference - Aquarium Illusions in edmonton uses T5's fixtures over all of their display/retail tanks in the whole store and uses T5's in some of their farm tanks and they do awesome). And if you go on Reef Central you'll be able to find similar replies suggesting that T5's are fine for SPS and clams. Cheers, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 When you 30" do you mean deep? or long? if it is deep you need more than 150W... 250W would be ok 400W would prolly be the best on a tank that deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted June 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Wow thanks for the replays. My tank is 30" long, 12" wide, 18" deep. My clam and coral is about 12" from the lights so if this is going to work thats awsome. If not... those Metal Halides, do they just need replacement ballasts, bulbs, and better legs to be a not-so-bad unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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