Well the major move is over, things have settled down and its time to do a lighting upgrade to a 10 Gallon AGA project tank I have. It currently has very few in habitants, most of which will be moved to other tanks or donated to a fellow Noob trying to take a stab at the hobby. I was able to transport this tank about half full of water so the sand bed and rock work was able to stay in tact and not be disturbed. I want to swap out the Nova Extreme 40 watt light fixture with a Halide light. My priority here on choosing lighting is ensuring that I have plenty of light, followed closely by coral color. Growth is not a major factor although of course I would like to see some modest growth.

My plan for this tank will be SPS corals. Some of the coral species I have planned for this tank are going to be a Montipora Cap., a couple of Millipora’s, Acropora Tenuis, Acropora Enchinata and if room permit’s a third small colony of Acropora in a vivid green of some sort.

Now down to the real nitty gritty. Which Halide light? I will be using a Halide Retrofit from Aquarium Lights Hellolights.com . I have narrowed it down to two different Retro kits. One is a 70 watt on an electronic ballast with a 14,000K light. However while this might be plenty adequate and give me some nice color I have some doubts about it not having quiet enough PAR to “pick up the check”. As such I have also considered the 150 watt with the ARO electronic ballast using a 20,000K bulb. With this fixture, concerns about having enough PAR is a non issue. The other advantage with this fixture would be the greater selection of bulbs. For these reasons I am leaning real heavily on pulling the trigger on the 150 watt Retro.


Which set up would you give the nod too and what do you base that choice on?

I recently sold a Hellolights 150w Retrofit and was very pleased with it. I used it over my QT tank while I was rebuilding my main display and it kept everything in great shape light wise. I had the XM 15k bulb which provided good color. I think had I kept it the next bulb would have been the new Reeflux 20k, the PAR is supposed to be fantastic and the coloration I have seen with them is unbelievable.

I certainly wouldn't recommend anything higher than 150 and I would be very careful with that on a 10g especially with the heat output if it's close to the tank. Be careful too with how many hours you run the MH as the depth is so shallow. Maybe I'm being overly cautious but I would stay on top of it as I'm sure you will.