Metal Halide with 40 gal opinions

[tmanning]

I have a 40 gallon breeder and am contemplating upgrading my 2x96 watt PCs to metal halide. I was thinking about trying one 250 watt radium mogul by itself with an HQI ballast. I've read, the 250 radium is bluer (too blue) than the 400 watt radiums so many seem to like, and it makes me a little nervous.

Here are my options as far as I can see...


1. Get the 250 watt HQI ballast with the 250 radium...if it's too blue, I can always switch to something like a 10K Ushio and supplement it with one of the PCs I'm taking out....correct? I could run that lamp with the HQI ballast right?

2. Go with the 400 watt radium setup....I'm a little concerned that it may be overkill and that there may be heat issues with the small 40 gallon tank. Right now just the back of the canopy is opened with one 4 inch fan. With the 2 96 watt PCs in there now, the temp peaks at around 83 on the warmest days.

Don't want to buy a chiller

Any opinions?

Thanks

[luminary]

If you're peaking at 83 with the PCs, I'd expect heat to be an issue when upgrading to the MH....but it shouldn't be insurmountable. Might need to add another fan.

I'm running 2x250 10KK ABs on my 50. Two 4" fans...temps sits around 82...peaks at about 84 in the heat of the afternoon when my blinds are open.

As far as bulbs...I don't have any experience with the Radiums, so I'll leave it to someone else to comment. I personally like the color of the Ushio or AB 10KKs with some actinics. I run only the ABs on my 50 (no actinic) and the color is a great crisp white. I'd like a little bit of actinic to pull out the greens, but I need to rebuild the canopy to do that.

I just setup a 175W Ushio with actinic PCs on a friends tank (38 gallon tall). It's got a great color too IMO.

I previously had Sunbursts, and while I never had any of the problems others encountered, I don't think I'd want to go back to that much blue.

Don't have much knowledge of HQI setups so I'm not sure about mixing the ballasts.

[tmanning]

Thanks for the input Luminary....anyone else with any thoughts?