2X55 watt PC vs. 175 MH pulse start

Well, first off, obviously the MH has more wattage, and number two, MH is much more intense and powerful than PC. No doubt go with the MH, and go with ever more lighting if possible. How big is your tank? I'd definitely recommend you go with the 175...
 
20 gallons. The only thing is i have a 36 watt coralife PC fixture on tehre and i would like to keep it. I dont know if cutting the MH reflector is a good idea.
 
What do you intend to keep?

The lights you have now would you be able to use them with the 2X55 PC kit?

I would think that taking the coral life lights aprt and mounting them with the Metal Halide wouldn't be to hard. You would only really need the other lighting over the 20 gallon if you were supplementing actinic.
 
The 2X55 is about 1 inch over the tank length which isnt to much of a problem. I am intending to use the 36 watt as an actinic if i get the MH which is likely. But the reflector is pretty big on the MH. It is 16 inches long and 13 inches wide, one inch wider then the actualy tank size and that is without my HOB on the back. I figured i could cut it but i dont want to hack it up to much because im not sure how much of that light i will lose then. Taking apart the 36 watt light sounds like a great idea if i could do it. I dont like the whole idea of doing it without having any idea of what im supposed to do. And i dont know if there would even be enough room to do it. Even if i got that far, i would definantly need at least one fan to cool down the ballast and the bulbs. And i dont know how small fans come becuase the side of the light is only around 2 1/2 X 1 1/2 inches on the side with the switch. The side without the switch is about 2 1/2 X 2. The entire this is 5 inches wide but it slopes down. But it would be really nice if i could use the coralife light as the MH too.
 
Can you get the measurements of your tank so I can see if I can design some configuration that might work for you. Also are you opposed to building a mini canopy of some sort? Or even hanging your lights above your tank? The main question though is what do you intend to keep this will help you decide what lihts better fit your needs.
 
As of now, i dont know what i intend to keep. What i intend is to beable to have a few limits as possible. Unfortunately, i have a tight budget so its hard to work this way. I want enough light so it will keep acropora alive mainly, becuase then theres pretty much nothing else that needs more light.

The tank is a standard 20 gallon. The dimensions are 24 inches long and 12 inches wide. I think it is 16 inches high if that matters. I am not opposed to building a canopy seeing as how my brother is a carpenter. A mini canopy would work for me.
 
Heres a few pictures of the situation.


Here is a pic of the whole thing taken apart with just the ballast. It looks like theres enough room for the MH ballast too.
f994d681.jpg


Here is a picture of just the ballast(doesnt help with anything that we are talking about here but o well)
f994d6d1.jpg


This is the light put back together without the bulb in place.
f994d726.jpg


This is where the light is supposed to be
f994d711.jpg


This is as far left the light can go with out cutting anything or making any special modifications.
f994d6f7.jpg
 
It looks like the pictures are going to play the not show up game for me today. That took a lot of time too. Lets try them one by one. Im not going to type the descriptions again but i will put them in the same order.
f994d681.jpg
 
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