mh lights

[Italian Stallion]

i have a 175 bow is it ok to put 2(400) mh 10k coralife bulbs and 2 110 vho super actinic bulbs 12" away from the water will i be able to keep acros if i do this i have about 6 w. p. g. if i put them directly ontop of the tank will that be ok the arent vary hot and i have a chiller thanks ps will there be any type of coral i cant keep with this lighting?

[vgibbens]

You should be fine. Just keep the under the MHs. Along with the lights, what type of filtration do you have? How much flow is in your tank. SPS like clean water and a lot of flow.

[TJcop]

Not to steal your thread but...
I kinda have a similar situation. My tank is a 125, and I was putting in 3-250w MH with either PC or VHO actinic suppliments. My flow should be around 2000gph (I think) through 4 returns (2 being connected to a SCWD).
I also want to have some SPS in the tank.

[vgibbens]

I'm currently redoing my 125. This time I'm putting 2 250W MHs over it (Coralvue 10,000K) with 2 96W PC actinics. I have an acrylic tank and don't really want to put a MH directly over the center brace, so I'm only doing two directly over the openings. The SPS should be fine as long as they're under the lights. Actinics at the 12" height above the water is mainly for aesthetics, they help the coral flouresce. If you really are worried about what you can keep, see if there is a marine society near you and see if anyone has a PAR meter that you can borrow. This may help you decide where to put the higher light demanding corals.