MH for planted tanks?

[ricoishere]

I've been pondering using a single 175W MH for a cube. It's 37G, 18x18x20 (+-). I want a nice pendant fixture. Any thought on this type of fixture for plant lighting?

[Ltrepeter2000]

What type of bulb is the 175W? 10,000K or 6500K? What size reflector does the fixture have?

[ricoishere]

I'm considereing the Catalina MH Pendant, 175W, 6500K bulb. Not sure what type reflector is in it though.
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/index.php?cPath=71_83

[gconcepcion]

Metal halides are great for plants, 175 watts over a 20" deep tank would be plenty and the spread from a pendant should be more than enough to cover the entire tank's area.

A bulb with a color temperature of 6500K would be what's typically recommended for a freshwater planted tank, but you could go up to 10K if you want a little bit more blue tint to the tank

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

the 6500K MH bulbs are a bit too yellow. I'd go with one of the 'yellower' 10K bulbs. Ushio 10K or something along those lines.

[DelawareJim]

10 K bulb.

I started with 5,500's as recommended at the time, then went to 6,500's with updated recommendations. I tried a 10,000 k I got from Aaron a couple of years ago and never looked back. It really makes a difference in the appearance of the tank.

Cheers.
Jim