6 Foot tank light config

[RockinSmall]

I am going to be upgrading to a 6 foot tank. it is a 150 gallon and halides will be atatched to the canopy. I have 2x250 watt hamilton reefstars and 2 no name 400 watt halides, one halide has a luminarc reflector. I have a friend with another 400 watt halide he wants to trade me for some frags.

I am trying to decide how to use what is available to me for my new sps reef tank.

Should i---

Do 3x400 watts- but bulbs r so pricey and high heat and lots of electricity

Do 2x400 watts b/c that is suffient for sps

Do 250- 400 -250

Do 400- 250 -400

What should i do?

 

[Dustin1300]

Id say first off how deep is the tank?

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[RockinSmall]

72 x 18 x 28

 

[outy]

in 18" deep water a 250w can grow most anything, I have 29" deep tank running 175w MH lights.

me, I would trade the 1 400 ballast for a 250w ballast and keep heat and energy cost down

 

[iap]

Wouldn't 28" be the height/depth of the tank. Whereas 18" is the width, front to back, of the tank

 

[RockinSmall]

correct, its 18 inches front to back, and it is 28 inches tall....

I am worried about upgrading to these dimensions.. as i am only 5'2 tall. I kinda wish i found a good deal on a 180g, its 4 inches shorter.

 

[danel]

I would go with 250-400-250 but if you can, just go with 3x 250's.

My girlfriend is also 5'2 and I ended up buying her a step ladder lol

 

[Alex T.]

If it's the same tank I have, you have one cross brace going through the middle without the standard "3 bays" for even distribution across each of the two feet. I have two islands under each 3 foot opening and a 400 watt Radium driven on the new Galaxy ballast. It looks just as crisp as the PFO HQI everyone raves about. You can save on bulbs and ballasts by following that setup. It's been working for me really well. Since 400 watts is really overkill in any tank under 30 inches, you should be fine. I can actually grow acroporas in the far corners of the tank with no problems.

Then again, that's if you only have the one brace.

 

[outy]

3 x250w will work at that depth but SPS at the bottom may not thrive as much as 400w

since my lighting is weak for SPS anywhere but the top of the tank, I went with a DSB of 6" so my arms can still just touch the SB to ba able to move stuff around.

now that I have my tall tank i love it.

like the above poster stated if you have 2 bays 400w is the answer.

 

[RockinSmall]

i will have to get a pict of the aquarium i am considering.

That was an excellent point... i could always keep a deap sand bed to sorta help me out. i was initially going to go with a 2 inch sand bed, but maybe go 6 inches... but, havent the views on the benefit of a deap sand bed changed dramatically over the last 8 years? it used to be the popular way to keep a sand bed.