Metal Halides

[Kdocimo90]

What wattage is necessary for a 210 gallon reef tank when it comes to using Metal Halides?

 

[ScottL4619]

What are the tank dimensions?

 

[Kdocimo90]

72 x 24 x 28

 

[ScottL4619]

IMO...3 X 250 watt and you should be fine. You could go with 400 watters since the depth is 28 inches, but they will use more electricity. I run 20k 250's and there is more than enough light on the bottom (24 inch deep tank).

 

[Kdocimo90]

ok thanks alot

 

[jdmcivicek9]

depending on what your growing i would say anywhere from 7watts per gallon -10 watts per gallon

 

[ScottL4619]

I'm not a big fan of the watt per gallon rule because at 18 inches deep (front to back), I am wasting some light using a square reflector. One good reflector should be able to cover a 2 foot by 2 foot square area pretty well. So even though I have 125 gallons and Kdocimo90 has a 210, the same lighting would be perfectly sufficient for both.

 

[sassafrass]

PAR is what we are looking for (photosynthetically available radiation) watts per gallon is not an accurate measurement for reef tanks . It takes much more light for some corals to thrive than some others. Also water depth greatly reduces light penetration.