Hamilton Technology Lighting good, bad, overpriced????

[kcslee]

My 155 bow front has finished cycling and i am looking at getting a new light system for it(not a retrofit. I do not have a hood fo this tank and am expecting to have the light sit on the glass tops/braces. I was looking at Hamilton online and was hoping to get your opinions. Currently the two items i was looking at from hamilton was a 6 foot 3 MH (175/250/400 watt choices) and 165 watt vho combo or a 6 foot 3 mh (175/250/400 watt choices) and 4x96 PC. I was looking at having the MH 's run at 250 watt on either choice at either 6500k or 10,000k (top of tank to bottom sand bed is 24 inches, tank is 72 inches long). For the 3x250 MH and 165wat VHO it would cost about $1200 and the 3x250mh + 4x96 PC would cost $1500. Both have electronic MH ballasts. Is this overpriced?, is the MH/PC combo better then the MH/VHO combo? Is the 3x250 mh good or should I go with the 3X400mh for a slight addition in cost. is the 6500 or 10,000k bulbs ok or what about the 14k or 20k? Is there someplace else that might have the same configuration/option that is better priced for a full system, not a retrofit. Thanks

[Chuck S]

If you have the money they are good. I always personally liked getting a wooden shell hood and retrofitting lighting personally. I would go with 3 x 400 watt since that gives you the most flexibility. I would go with 6500 or 10000 kelvin lighting also for PAR values over the others.

[kcslee]

thanks, what about the 4x96watt pc or the 2 70" 165 watt VHO portion..PC or VHO with the MH?

Also, if I did the 3x400 watt MH with either the PC or VHO that would come out to about 1584 watts or 10.21 watts per gallon. Wouldnt that be too much light and kill my inhabitants or provide for excessive algea growth?

[Chuck S]

I have about 10 watts per gallon over most all my tanks. If your not going to get into SPS AT ALL then do the 250watts

I would go with the VHO option over PC's

[kcslee]

yes i need the lighting for sps/lps and all others, my 95 corner tank just crashed and luckily the 155 just finished cycling for me to move some of my stuff into, but the lighting I had on the 95 wont be sufficient enough (1x175mh and seperate PC's and FO's) although it was aiding in a lot of algea growth.

With 10 watss per gallon how do you prevent massive outbreaks of algea in your tanks? SOrry for asking, ive just never dealt with so much wattage per gallon and think of the horrific outbreaks i have had with so much less lighting.

[Chuck S]

Good water husbandry===== Water changes,good skimmer and do not overfeed.

If you have any light over a tank with poor nutrient export you will have algae.

[kcslee]

Thanks, I ordered the 2x165 VHo and 3X400wMH combo. Got them to give me a discount to as i found a reseller of thier profuct selling it for 300 bucks less so they matched and beat the price. SHould come this weekend. Cant wait to see how the quality is.