225 gallon 30" high vs. 180 gallon 24" high reef tank

[kmark1980]

i ordered a 180 gallon acrylic reef tank and they put a fork through it in shipping. they are offering me a 225 gallon($1200 more expensive) tank to replace it, or i can wait another month for a replacement to be made along with a 10% discount.
normally i would be wanting to jump all over the larger and more expensive 225 gallon tank, but my concern is the extra 6" from top to bottom. i want my tank to be able to host a large varity of coral and i'm concerned about the light penetration with the deeper tank.
what would you guys suggest. take the 225 30" deep tank, or wait for the standard 6" long 24" high tank to be made. as it is an acrylic tank it would not be safe to upgrade the lighting to 400w as it could cause bowing later on. my main concern is light penetration. advice??

 

[adamc1303]

why would 400W cause bowing? Is it because of the acrylic melting?

 

[kmark1980]

yeah, becuase of it being acrylic. the manufacturer said no chance on 400 watt metal halide lights. they said there was a good chance of melting and bowing over time.

 

[zanoshanox]

you'll be fine with 3x250 w halides if its 6 ft long. the 24's can penetrate 24" easy

 

[kmark1980]

sure, i understand that there is not problem with the 24" deep water penetration. my concern was if i were to take the 30" deep 225 gallon tank. would i run into problem then? thanks for your help.

 

[acrylic51]

Shouldn't be an issue with acrylic "melting" or "bowing" if the lights are up off the tank like the should be and the canopy is vented.....How thick of acrylic are we talking about????

 

[reefiness]

i would wait for the other tank.

 

[maeistero]

:notsure: take the big tank!!!!
honestly your small tank is going to have thinner acrylic and 400's won't bow crap unless you're dealing with an inferior company like g classcages. if there's any concern with bowing i wouldn't even consider dealing with them. a 125 should be braced enough for 220gal worth of pressure. move on to another company

 

[acrylic51]

I would never deal with GlassCages on acrylic tank, but what thickness acrylic are they using??? Should be a min of 3/4"....