Help me decide on lighting!! Please!

[clownfish]

i got a 2 bulb t5 setup on my 40 breeder and it's bright, added a led light to the center looks awsome

[Big_Pun]

metal halide

[Big_Pun]

metal halide

[alton]

I have a 6 bulb T5 fixture above my 40g breeder frag tank. I am going to post par pictures for that and my 200g probably tomorrow!

I agree with Eric on the 6 lamp. I have a 4 lamp fixture on a 40H 36 x 12 x 20 high with a 5" sand bed and it looks fine. I think you will need the extra two lamps to cover the additional 6" in depth.

[Jarob]

Now Im kind of leaning towards MH..! I just hate the heat and power consumption

[Squiers007]

I agree with Eric on the 6 lamp. I have a 4 lamp fixture on a 40H 36 x 12 x 20 high with a 5" sand bed and it looks fine. I think you will need the extra two lamps to cover the additional 6" in depth.

I am going to have to disagree with the 6 lamp idea. I am only running 4 lamps on my 75 and am having no problems at all keeping multiple SPS species at varying depths in my tank. I even have eggcrate on top to deter any jumpers so that is cutting down on some of my light as well. With the 40breeder being less deep than my 75, 4 bulbs should be plenty. One thing to keep in mind though is that my 4 bulbs are overdriven by an Icecap 660, but I still don't see any issues only using 4 on your 40.

[Big_Pun]

I am going to have to disagree with the 6 lamp idea. I am only running 4 lamps on my 75 and am having no problems at all keeping multiple SPS species at varying depths in my tank. I even have eggcrate on top to deter any jumpers so that is cutting down on some of my light as well. With the 40breeder being less deep than my 75, 4 bulbs should be plenty. One thing to keep in mind though is that my 4 bulbs are overdriven by an Icecap 660, but I still don't see any issues only using 4 on your 40.

how old are the bulbs and how long can you go before changing them since they are over driven

[Squiers007]

2 of my bulbs are about 3 months old and the other 2 are around 8 months old. Typically I do not notice a significant change in my light levels or response of my corals till around 11 months so I usually change the bulbs out every 10 months. I also run several fans that blow on the bulbs when they are on to help minimize any overheating that is typical when overdriving bulbs. My friend has a PAR meter that I will try and borrow so I can take some measurements for everyone.

[alton]

I love disagreements so here is the way I look at it 6 x 54 T5HO lamps = 324 watts or 4 T5HO overdriven to 80 watts each = 320 watts total. So I guess if you take 4 39 watt T5HO lamps and over drive them to 60 watts it works out the same? The only question I have I thought you could only do this to URI/UVL Lamps?