150 watt halides enough??

[fishykidd916]

is 150watt HQI enough lighting for an 120 gal sps tank?

 

[seatom]

Hi,

i think two of 150W bulbs are enough.
Maby you can use additional tubes for simulate the gloamings.

 

[XeniaMania]

Well..general rule of thumb for reef tanks is 4w per gallon. So with your setups, the recommended wattage would be 480. SPS are high light corals, so most guys will go about 8w per gallon. If have like 3-4 of the 150W, then you'll be fine. Otherwise, prepare for mushrooms because you're coming in at slightly above 1W/gal.

 

[XeniaMania]

Oh..of course if you only plan on having a 2ft area where the SPS will grow, then you're fine.

 

[djcool563]

WPG is not a good reffernece. Unless the tank is 12" or less deep dont go with a 150w. I would go with a 250 or 400. With SPS its not the WPG but the light itself. 150 would not provide the lighting needed unless you have them right under the light.

DJ

 

[seatom]

Hi,

this 100G German-Tank used many years only 2x 150W bulbs plus tubs

100g-German-Tank

 

[Larry Waughon]

I would go with 2-250w on a 24" deep tank.

 

[honkit]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6958100#post6958100 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seatom
Hi,

this 100G German-Tank used many years only 2x 150W bulbs plus tubs

100g-German-Tank

This is an exception rather than the rule.

Most exceptional looking SPS dominant tanks have much brighter lighting than this.

 

[XeniaMania]

Not only that, but notice the placements of the corals? He does have the SPS ones closer to the light. I never said it was impossible, I did note placement is an issue.

 

[Wiskey]

I would definitally go with 2*250W, I know a couple of people running 3*250 on a 120G.

Whiskey

 

[RCS]

I used to have 3x150w HQI on my 155 and it worked, but growth was slow. Since upgrading to 250w growth has improved immensely and colors are much nicer as well. I would say go for the 250w, especially since the price difference is normally minimal.

 

[Racenrich]

hey fishy...depending on what you decide to keep should really determine how much light you want.

on my 55g i had 2-175w10K-MH and 2-110-VHO's

my current 120g, has 2-250w10K and 4-110w-VHO's....
as for me i like the SPS's....therefore i have lots of light.

i agree with the rest above....minimum should be 2-150's-MH

 

[reef runt]

im running 2x150's on my 22 inch deep tank and im keeping sps at the bootom with gr8 growth and colouration