New Tank, New Lighting?

[Giancarlo]

Hey guys,

So i just got a 90 gallon shallow tank, it measures 43"x35"X14" with 14" being the height. I currently have a 45 gallon cube, with a 250 watt metal halide lighting it. With the new tanks height im thinking i could still use this MH without having to add any new lighting. live stock, besides fish, i have a bit of everything including sps. What do you all think, will i be able to keep the same light or will i need an upgrade. I realize it will not light the entire tank fully, but if i keep the sps and other light demanding corals directly under the MH i believe i should be fine.... also i have no clams currently but would like to get one or two in a year or so.

Anyway, please if anyone can tell me otherwise i want to hear it.

 

[-Logzor]

Definitely a tricky tank to light, you don't need a lot of punch, due to the depth, but you need a lot of spread. I believe they make some giant reflectors suitable for 30"+ wide tanks.

If you're OK with massive dead spots in your new tank keep what you have. I think you'll want to add an additional 250w MH and use new wide reflectors on both. It wouldn't hurt to add a couple VHO's or T5's for some actinic.

 

[Giancarlo]

Well i have these led strips that are glued to the rim of the reflector that i currently have, but i was considering some sort of t5 actinic combo, but we will see when the time comes.

Anyway thanks for the help, im going to look into a bigger reflector and see how that goes, i did not even consider that untill you mentioned it.

Thanks again!