30" Deep 250w or 400w?

[huskysglare1]

I have a 60"x24"x30"tall. I have a dimmable lumatek ballast with 250W/275w/400W/super Lumen. I am planning to have lots of SPS in the tank. what should i use? 250w or 400w?

The bulb is 15" above the water surface.

If i have a 400w radium and turn it down to 250w. do i get extra life out of the bulb? hehe.

 

[andyt2989]

I have a 60"x24"x30"tall. I have a dimmable lumatek ballast with 250W/275w/400W/super Lumen. I am planning to have lots of SPS in the tank. what should i use? 250w or 400w?

The bulb is 15" above the water surface.

If i have a 400w radium and turn it down to 250w. do i get extra life out of the bulb? hehe.

Lot's of SPS in a 30" tank - you really want 400w.

 

[Nanook]

400 watt for 30 inch tank or you will lack the punch for the bottom 6" of the tank.

 

[tangstank]

or go with 250 Watts 10K, BTW XM's 10K have the best PPSD (Even better than 400W 12K reeflux)
Look up Sanjay Joshi's blogs on PAR comparison on varios bulbs & brands.

 

[Nanook]

250w XM 10k are pretty yellow though, so unless you use that particular bulb, the choice in 250's that will work ideally is slim.

 

[ReefTECK]

I'm rocking 400's on a 120 (24" deep) with 20k's XM's and Lumenarc reflectors, and I still think things could be brighter! Go 4 hundo, you'll thank yourself later.

 

[huskysglare1]

i use them on the Lumen Bright 3 reflector. hope 400 won't be too much. ^_^

 

[Znut Reefer]

I would go with the 400's on a 30". I use 400's in LA III. I get good growth and color.

 

[mpoletti]

Its all a personal choice. One of the nicest tanks in the hobby uses 250 watt electronic ballasts on a 30" tall tank.

 

[ReefTECK]

Its all a personal choice. One of the nicest tanks in the hobby uses 250 watt electronic ballasts on a 30" tall tank.

Are you talking about yours?! lol

I was actually going back through some archives to find your TOTM, but I can't find it now that northernreefer0's tank is up since just the other day.