250 or 400

[spsphreak]

Hi guys,

I am currently upgrading my 75 gallon SPS tank to 185 gallon, and I have found a pretty good deal on 2 lumenbrights and 2 dimmable 400 watt CV ballasts. The question I have, is 2 400 watt halides too much for a tank that is 60x30x24. Before I found this deal, I was going to go with the same setup pretty much, except 250s.

 

[evsalty]

250's should be good to go for 24" height. Those reflectors should give the spread to cover 30"x30" no problem.

 

[spsphreak]

250's should be good to go for 24" height. Those reflectors should give the spread to cover 30"x30" no problem.

Thanks for the response. i would save about 300 bucks by buying the 400 setup I was talking about instead of buying 250s. That is kind of where the question comes up. Do I save the money and go with the 400s, and spend more and go with 250s. I don't wanna throw too much light on the tank because it's cheaper.

 

[cmm1970]

Do you want a chiller?

Do you want a chiller?

The 400's with Lumenarc's would be fine. The LUmenbrights are for 24" foot print each. Looks like 3x250's would be a better choice with LUmenbrights than 2x400.

I have LB's with 400's. They are way too much in my humble user opinion. Many will disagree, but I'd be happy running 10-14K 250W lamps with lumenbrights and not have a chiller. Just use fans over the sump. Instead, my chiller runs LOTS with the 400's on. SOOOOOOO, if you like chillers, get the 400's. Otherwise, go 250's, skip the Radium 20K's, and run a 10K lamp and get just a good growth and color.

There are two cents worth from a Lumenbright user.

 

[spsphreak]

The 400's with Lumenarc's would be fine. The LUmenbrights are for 24" foot print each. Looks like 3x250's would be a better choice with LUmenbrights than 2x400.

I have LB's with 400's. They are way too much in my humble user opinion. Many will disagree, but I'd be happy running 10-14K 250W lamps with lumenbrights and not have a chiller. Just use fans over the sump. Instead, my chiller runs LOTS with the 400's on. SOOOOOOO, if you like chillers, get the 400's. Otherwise, go 250's, skip the Radium 20K's, and run a 10K lamp and get just a good growth and color.

There are two cents worth from a Lumenbright user.

Thanks for the response, and you pegged exactly what I was thinking. I've been the chiller route before and I am not trying to go there again. I was not aware that the large lumenbrights only covered about a 24 inch area though. That's good to know.