1 400w hqi pendant or 2 250 hqis ???

[NALCOMIS]

I am considering changing from t5 to HQi Halide for my 120 eurobraced tank. I was thinking either 1 400w with a large pendant close to the size of the opening in the center of the tank or 2 smaller 250watt side by side. besides the 100 watt gain are there any other benefits to running dual 250 versus singe 400? Will the 400w make my corals grow better? I may also have 2 54watt t5 installed with the 400 watt. Any benifits of having hqi over mogul? Im looking for responces from people with experience with both.

Thanks in advance,

SAM

 

[Yinger]

you will get better coverage with 2 250s. Even with the biggest reflectors you can find, you'll have a hard time covering a 4 feet tank. Even the huge lumen max covers about a 3x3 area. DE bulbs if ran on a magnetic or HQI ballast will give you a lot more par than a mogul setup. If paired with the right ballast, it can sometimes out par some 400 watt bulbs.

 

[NALCOMIS]

I guess when you put it that way.. Do you have any suggestions on what ballast/pendant/bulb to use? I was thinking about the dual electronic hamilton hqi ballast with pfo reflectors and phoenix bulbs...

 

[Yinger]

Hmm... check out sanjay's website. It will tell you about all the different combinations of ballasts and bulbs. I had the phoenix bulbs prior to switching, but i had them on an e ballast so the intensity wasn't as good. If i had them on a HQI or Magnetic, it would be quite a bit brighter and last longer.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

also, if your looking for some DE pendants, i have two RO III's for sale. I bought them from Gcarroll and used them for 2 months. They're about the same as the PFO mini's.

 

[Yinger]

also, look into the blue wave ballast by Sunlight supply. People have gotten good results from those.

 

[NALCOMIS]

thanks!!

 

[jbrown11352]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=837110

Just saw this thread. Figured you might be interested.

 

[NALCOMIS]

Thanks for looking out!