I currently have NOVA Extreme 8x54watts and am SWITCHING to Reefstar 2x250 14K

[ikn0xl]

I have the Novas and am going to switch to the 2x250watt or the 2x400 watt DE HQI 14000K REEFSTAR DUAL pendants..

What is the big difference between the 250 and 400's I have had several people tell me they are very similar just cost more and take up more energy! -any truth......

Was wondering if I should go with the REEFSTAR OR the REEFSUN, frankly I cant tell the difference except for the fact its the same thing just sleeker in design, I mean even the reflectors are the same right?

I am a future convert to SPS, I currently have a 60 gal refugium I am adding to my 90 Display along with a 30 gallon refugium I currently have,

Nitrates = 5ppm
Phosphates = 0
I have 50x turnover w/o direct flow
ASM G2 skimmer
150+ lbs live Rock

Any suggestions except to reduce my bioload which I will attempt to do once I obtain a fish trap in preparation for a SPS system.

I have yet to test for calcium and ALK!

 

[chindapol]

What is the big difference between the 250 and 400's I have had several people tell me they are very similar just cost more and take up more energy! -any truth......

That's probably true in the some extent. Because different bulbs produce different PAR.

For instance, comparing 400W CoralVue 14000K SE using PFO 400WQI vs 250W DE Phoenix 14000K using PFO 250W HQI ballast. The Phoenix outperform the Coralvue in term of PPFD.

However, if you use Hamilton 400W, that's deffinitely produce more PAR than the 250W.

HQI DE bulb is most probably give more PAR than SE bulb.

Try Sanjay light website.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/select2lamp.php

 

[ikn0xl]

cant find the Hamilton DE 14000K bulbs?

 

[chindapol]

They're probably not listed in what Sanjay have tested. My guess is they even more tense than the SE version. Don't know just guess. However, you can search performance data by color temperature, I found only Happy Reefing bulb in the tested data.