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Lighting a 30G Cube, 70W MH?

1318 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  carb850, 
C
I have an Oceanic 30G cube (20"x18"x21") tank that will be setting up shortly. If I were to use a 70W MH, would I need to dose ferts daily or have a pressurized CO2 system? My other option is a Current 40W PC fixture that I already have.

I haven't selected plants yet, I will select them around my lighting levels. I'm looking for a low maintenance system with moderate growth. I don't mind occasionally dosing and bimonthly water changes but I don't want to do any daily dosing regiment or massive biweekly water changes. Also, I don't want to constantly be clipping plants.
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B
I am setting up the same tank, and I'm going to try to use a 150W MH that I've had from a reef tank I took down.
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C
I too have a 150W MH from my that includes another 32Wx2 of PC. I'm pretty sure that would easily put it into a high light classification. Then I would be looking at pressurized CO2, daily dosing of ferts, etc.

So I'm considering selling that fixture and getting this instead.
http://www.fishneedit.com/75w-metal-halide-pendant-ligh75.html
With the 8000K bulb.
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A
I also am running a "30" (27gal) cube with a 150w halide (10k). It's still far too young to know if it's going to be overkill. I am running CO2 and will have to fertilize most likely. I'm still in process of moving everything from my 10g cube, so we will see....

I do think the 70w halide will be what I switch to if this proves to be too intense.

If you find a "perfect" solution, please post it.
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C
I'm still hoping others will chime in but I imagine 150W will be fine as long as you do plan on pressurized CO2 and dosing ferts. Since I'm hoping to avoid that, that is why I'm wondering if even the 70W might be too much. I have seen posts on this board that suggest too much light is a common mistake for many planted tank keepers.
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A
how high do you plan on having the light above the tank? that is high light,however 70W over 30 gallons is not as extreme as other threads I have seen...with pressurized co2, daily ferts(i reccomend buying dry ferts and mixing them yourself=cheaper and last for a longg time) and hanging the light a good height over your tank will have good results. also depends on what plants you want to keep
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C
wow, so even at 70W you think CO2 and ferts are required. I hoped to use a MH but I may use my 40W PC fixtures instead. Coming from a reef tank, I'm looking for as little maintenance as possible. :)
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forddna
It is 21" tall? I have a 54g corner tank, and I light the back corner with a 70w HQI. Mine is 22" tall, and the light is maybe another 6" or so above the water. I am not seeing signs of it being overkill. No CO2, yet. I am lighting the front with 2 x 24w T5HOs.
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C
The 30G cube is 22" tall. How long have you had this setup running?
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forddna
This time around, with these lights, about 4-5 months.
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C
One would think problems would have popped up by now if they were going to. Thanks for the input.
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