barderer Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Two options. I can double my 36w pc lighting for 150 bucks for a total of 4x36w. Or I can install a 70w HQI for more than double that price. I am leaning toward the quad pc's because of price and heat. Are the kits really about equal? What is the math on depth of light penetration and wattage. Would the one 70w HQI penetrate deeper that two more 36w? I am also thinking about getting this skimmer. Thoughts? HQI 29 kit http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?products_id=363 PC upgrade kit http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php...products_id=345 The only skimmer I think will work in the cube. http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1436 Thanks Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 you might try this DIY metal halide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph9123 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 My friend has a coralife hang over 150 mh over his biocube 29 and it looooks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBob Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I have a clamp on coralife 150 on my standard 20G and I'm loving it, only issue is you'll have to tear the hood off and account for a lot more evaporation in your BC... you'll probably want to implement some kind of autotopoff and extra cooling fans regardless of which upgrade you choose, since both are going to generate a lot of heat, and the necessary fans are going to evaporate your water a lot faster than you think. The stock BC 14 on our front counter starts blowing bubbles 3 times a day, so be extra vigilant of your temperature and evaporation no matter what you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phamily Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I have a 24 aquapod and i upgraded my light to a sunpod 150W MH (about ~$279 on dr.foster) . It is great i like the 14K bulb. I also bought a sapphire internal skimmer (there is one for your bc29 too). Sapphire skimmer is great very powerful little machine. there is problem with microbubble at the beginning. But after about 1month it will break in and things will be crystal clear. As captainbob and other members mentioned you will have problem with heat and evaporation. I ran a fan on the tank (temp got as high as 81-82 when fan is on with MH) and have to top off about .5-1 gal a day. I got tired of toping off the tank and checking the salinity everyday so i purchased a nano chiller about a week ago. eveything is happy in there now. goodluck but no matter what light you invest in. you will probably need to spend some cash on a chiller later on. maybe put that on your xmas gift list. Goodluck. if you want to see the sunpod light of , sapphire skimmer or the nano chiller i will be glad to send you pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 One more thing to think about is the long term cost of bulb replacement. Replacing 4 PCs every 9-12 months will get more expensive than 1 MH every 12-16 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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