GoSUV
01/10/2003, 01:00 PM
I currently have a 37 gal FOWLRAMI (Fish Only With Live Rock And Mobile Invertebrates) system.
I am fascinated by the world of corals (who isn't?) and wish to keep some of the sessile inverts like clams, some mushrooms, softies and LPS. Maybe an anemone for my paired ocellaris clownfish.
Currently my lighting setup is a perfecto hood with a single fixture of NO 20W lamp. I know, woefully incomplete for keeping most corals.
One complication is, I want to upgrade (who doesn't?) my system to a 120 gal long maybe a year from now when I move into a new house, so the new lighting system has to be somewhat transferrable.
By doing some searches here at RC and looking through some online retailer's websites, I stumbled upon the idea of getting pendant Metal Halide lights that might suit my needs. If I understand correctly, these are MH lights you dangle on top of your tank from a cord, where the ballast is mounted remotely and you simply plug it in? Here are my questions:
1. Do people typically leave their tanks open and just let the light shine from the top? If yes how do you cope with fish jumping out and the increased evaporation? If no what kind of cover do you use? (I can just throw away the perfecto hood, it's cheap and it came with the tank as a package)
2. How wide a coverage do you get with a single pendant light fixture? My tank is 30" long, does it need two pendants or just one?
3. How about the center brace of the tank? It blocks a good portion of the light doesn't it if you run just one pendant light?
4. Any other things I need to watch out for? Any good Canadian online dealers? I hate to be screwed by the border tax after finding good deals in the US...
Thanks.
I am fascinated by the world of corals (who isn't?) and wish to keep some of the sessile inverts like clams, some mushrooms, softies and LPS. Maybe an anemone for my paired ocellaris clownfish.
Currently my lighting setup is a perfecto hood with a single fixture of NO 20W lamp. I know, woefully incomplete for keeping most corals.
One complication is, I want to upgrade (who doesn't?) my system to a 120 gal long maybe a year from now when I move into a new house, so the new lighting system has to be somewhat transferrable.
By doing some searches here at RC and looking through some online retailer's websites, I stumbled upon the idea of getting pendant Metal Halide lights that might suit my needs. If I understand correctly, these are MH lights you dangle on top of your tank from a cord, where the ballast is mounted remotely and you simply plug it in? Here are my questions:
1. Do people typically leave their tanks open and just let the light shine from the top? If yes how do you cope with fish jumping out and the increased evaporation? If no what kind of cover do you use? (I can just throw away the perfecto hood, it's cheap and it came with the tank as a package)
2. How wide a coverage do you get with a single pendant light fixture? My tank is 30" long, does it need two pendants or just one?
3. How about the center brace of the tank? It blocks a good portion of the light doesn't it if you run just one pendant light?
4. Any other things I need to watch out for? Any good Canadian online dealers? I hate to be screwed by the border tax after finding good deals in the US...
Thanks.