250 watt MH and SPS

[frank88]

In a tank top 30 inch (80cm) you can keep ,with 250 watt mh, sps demanding
at the top of the tank, approximately mid-tank on?

I find in books or on the forums wrote:

lighting: very strong - intense
but that means in practice?

The answer is.
1) yes you can , but the colors are not as under the 400 watt ..
2) the colors are great, also under the 250 watt

 

[Reef Bass]

I run 400w MHs on my 24" tall sps tank, and in my opinion, with a 30" tall tank, 400w would be the way to go.

That said, I do think you could get by with 250w MHs if the sps were in the top 18-20" of the water column. Colors would be bright (assuming all other parameters are where they should be).

 

[frank88]

That said, I do think you could get by with 250w MHs if the sps were in the top 18-20" of the water column. Colors would be bright (assuming all other parameters are where they should be).

so why you on your mount a 400 watt do not understand ...

 

[mayjong]

i have a 30"+ (like 34") deep tank with 250W metals. it works fine for me. i still acclimate frags on sand bed, as normal. then move up.
i actually have one sps that has been on my sandbed for about 8 months. it has grown about 4-5" in that time. (i moved it up about 6" yesterday night)
that being said, most of my sps is between 12"-20" deep...

 

[t4zalews]

250w will be fine if you have them 20" or shallower. I grow sps close to my sandbed that is ~20" below the water level. I also keep maxima's and a crocea very happy on my sandbed with rocks underneath them.my tank is 25" deep and my lights are 10" above the water.

 

[rbonafide]

I run 250 w Radiums and I have a 31" deep tank. Clams and coral have been fine as far as light is concerned and I have been going for a year.

 

[J.P.Silva]

Many reefers are down sizing to 250w.:thumbsup:
you see So many 400w ballast up for sale "like me".

 

[Reef Bass]

so why you on your mount a 400 watt do not understand ...

When I got into reefing, 400w MHs were strongly recommended by someone I trust for a 24" tall tank. In my opinion, he was right. I think the color of my corals is brighter than if I ran 250s. Could my corals still grow and thrive with less light? Yes, I believe so.

I also believe sunlight is much stronger than 400w MH lighting. From the scuba diving and snorkeling I've done, there are a whole lot of really lovely hard corals growing 5 to 20 feet down. Home reef tanks rarely exceed 3 feet in depth. The objective comparison would be to take a par meter diving.

 

[t4zalews]

I ran a 400w on my tank and I do agree the colors were brighter and some corals pushed out different colors. I run 2x250w now, but have been having water quality issues, I blame this more than the lighting for my swing.

 

[seminolecpa]

I run 400W's on my 28" deep tank. I opted to not go with the 250's as I too wanted to have more placement options.

One thing you might consider is buying a dimable ballast like a Lumentek. Gives you the option of starting off with 250 and going to 400W if you feel it isn't enough. (think that one has options for 250W, 250W HQI, 400W, and 400W HQI).

 

[frank88]

with 5 reflectors Lumenarc 3 and 250 watt bulbs on 120x30x24
I have enough light for all sps??

 

[Ostentum]

Short answer...yes. and wow 5 reflectors on a 10ft tank. Probably could have gotten away with 3 or 4. I was 2x250w Reeflux 12k on a 30" deep tank and didnt have any trouble with sps in the upper 2/3 of the tank until the seam burst. I probably could have done fine in the bottom 1/3 just my actinics didnt penetrate as much as I wanted so the colors didnt pop as much down there. Just remember that different corals like different light and flow so keep that in mind when picking pieces out to put in your tank. The lumenarcs provide more penetration at higher depths so good choice there, if I am not mistaken 250w with the Lumenarcs are comparable to 400w with spider reflectors.

 

[sfboarders]

One thing you might consider is buying a dimable ballast like a Lumentek. Gives you the option of starting off with 250 and going to 400W if you feel it isn't enough. (think that one has options for 250W, 250W HQI, 400W, and 400W HQI).

This is what I did. I have the lumatek 250/400w ballast . I use HQI mode with 250 Radiums and lumenarc minis. In case I wanna upgrade in the future I don't have to buy new ballasts.

 

[frank88]

Short answer...yes. and wow 5 reflectors on a 10ft tank. Probably could have gotten away with 3 or 4. I was 2x250w Reeflux 12k on a 30" deep tank and didnt have any trouble with sps in the upper 2/3 of the tank until the seam burst. I probably could have done fine in the bottom 1/3 just my actinics didnt penetrate as much as I wanted so the colors didnt pop as much down there. Just remember that different corals like different light and flow so keep that in mind when picking pieces out to put in your tank. The lumenarcs provide more penetration at higher depths so good choice there, if I am not mistaken 250w with the Lumenarcs are comparable to 400w with spider reflectors.

Unfortunately here in Italy some friends tested the return of a Lumenarc3 with a 250 watt and would seem to be a great loss illuminating power

 

[bolo7735]

I am currently running 2 250W MH with Lumbenbright mini reflectors. They produce good PAR all the way to the sand. My tank is 48x24x30. I used to run 2 400W and with such a small tank the heat was just crazy and it washed out the colors of the corals. My Galaxy ballast 250W HQI produces the same amount of PAR as the 400W. I do not know why it did but the PAR meter show it. SPS colors are coming back thou. I do have to say when I had the 400W there was no shade where I can put light sensitive corals. My tank was bright throughout.

 

[frank88]

then the 400 I got up too the temperature?