mh change out

chad508

New member
will i get any better growth if i change out my 250's for 400's. im trying to way the odds. im not sure if i will get enough growth to compensate for the added electricty used and heat produced. im sure dave may be able to answer this best. also will two 400's be okay are should i do three? are maybe a 250 in the middle of two 400's.
 
Remember what happend to Blake's tank runnig 3-400's. I think you would get by fine with just 2.
 
3-400 watt halides????
I think I am gonna buy some stock in the local power company:D
What color bulbs are you looking to run?

Kevin
 
Going by the national average for kwh cost it would cost you $25 to run 2- 400w and 1- 250w per month. That is for 8hrs. a day for 30 days. 3- 400w would be $30 a month.
 
I dont think you can properly light a six foot tank with two fixtures no matter what wattage. I think you will get more growth with 400's in sps.
 
I think it would be okay for animal health. Asthetically, I think It would be noticably darker in the middle.
 
Well, my tank isn't as bright as lets say Dave's tank. But, I lost a lot of corals due to too much light. I now have the 2 400 watt 10,000K MHs in my tank on and everything is happy finally. Not to mention that I can't run all three at once because my breaker will pop almost instantly. I still have some things that still haven't opened up because of the amount of light. 3 400s is a freakin lot of light and some LPSs can't take that much. But, Dave has a lot more experience than I do so maybe it is just my luck... I seem to have a lot of it. Not to mention that now my purple and powder blue are covered in Ick... I am dosing them heavily with Focus, Metro and Garlic. They are still eating good so at least that is going for me. Any suggestions with Tangs with Ick. I know about the freshwater dips and things but I think that it sresses them out even more. I am also treating the tank with Kick Ick which kills the Ick when it falls off the fish so it shouldn't infest my tank hopefully.
 
I have 2 cleaner shimp in there already. The clean for a few seconds but then the tangs take off. Almost like it hurts them.
 
A PBT is one of the hardest fish to keep precisely for this reason. I had one for about six months. It would spontaneously erupt with ick from time to time. It didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. It always happened after I got a new fish. Sometimes it was out of the blue. The ick finally won the battle.
 
my hippo would get it every time i add a new fish but he always got over it on his own. i did for a while use garlic, im not sure if it did any good are not as i have not used it in a while and have not ad a ich outbreak since.
 
Well, as I said before I have been treating them and I just put another dose of Kick Ick in there this morning. The fish look better today so maybe I will be lucky.
 
Good news! With lots of treatment and TLC, the two tangs are pulling out of the Ick. I even put in a new yellow tailed wrasse today and everyone is cool. No new Ick on the tangs due to the wrasse. Still going to treat all the food as normal for about a week more then cut it off.
 
Chad, I'm running 3 400w on my 180.
2 10ks (one on each end) and an old 20k in the center.
I don't like the look of the brighter on the ends and not in the center. I'm going to replace the 20k with a new 10k when I get home from San Antonio where I've been working for 3 weeks and will be for at least 3 more weeks :rolleyes:
I don't think the added cost of 3 400w will be bad enough to deal with looking at a tank that you are not happy with.
 
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