Halide height and duration

Hud934 · #1 01/03/2008, 10:22 PM

I have a 55 gal wide with a 250w 13k metal halide. I have SPS, and soft corals. My question is how high should the bulb be from the water and how long should it run? I also have two t5 actinic bulbs.

Entropy · #2 01/03/2008, 10:28 PM

Your tank is pretty short for 250w halide(s) so IMO you could run it pretty much from 4 inches (pretty close) all the way up to 12 or more. I would try to keep it less thank 12 so you are not wasting light. I run my halides for six hours currently and they are about 12 inches off the water surface. I think with SPS I think I would run them 8-10 hours. You are probably going to have to experiment and see what works best.

Toddrtrex · #3 01/03/2008, 10:35 PM

I have a similar set up over my 75 (( using 14K MH )) right now the unit is sitting on the tank ( on top of a couple of pieces of wood -- see picture ). As long as you acclimate your corals to your lights you would be fine. Also make sure heat isn't a problem. I am going to try to hang mine this weekend -- will make it easier to access the tank and to clean the UV shield. Plus I will get better light spread. Thinking of having it about 4-6 inches up.

(( clip on fan is now in the back, picture was taken about 3 months ago ))

kdblove_99 · #4 01/03/2008, 10:51 PM

Mine is roughly 10-12 inches from water and i run mine 10hrs a day