150 watt halide

[Saltwatercoral2]

I am curious is 150 watt halide bulbs would be enough for all types of corals in a 18 inch tall tank. I would have 2 of them for my 48 x 24 front to back x 18 high tank. I will eventually go to leds, but for the time, i am going with the halide route. Any suggestions? Also, DE or SE bulbs? And which bulbs?

 

[sirreal63]

Yes...but you will need high par bulbs, like 10K XDE's and good reflectors. Over several tanks I have run, I have used both the 10K and Radiums in LAIII Mini reflectors. The Radiums don't push as much PAR,(however it is acceptable) but don't need supplements to look good. The 10K's you may want to supplement with actintics.

150's are DE and to run them correctly you should use an M81 ballast. The difference in PAR is substantial compared to electronic ballasts.