addvice on MH lights!

[devaji108]

I will be lighting a 240 GAl Reef 96"x 24"x 24"right now I have jebo 2x175W 20K MH w act. blue ( two units 20"each) on my 90 gal. with is 48"x 24x 18 and they are going a good job.
I was thinking about getting two more inits...so that would be a total of 4 x175 W MH
pros.
cheaper
comes with fans and act. blues
cons:
a total of 4 ballast
I was also thinking about upgrading to 4x 250 W 14K
is there a rule of thumb as to the number of Watts per Gal?
I would only have two ballast this way.
but more $$
also do you find that reflectors help with focusing the light into the tank?
any advice would help I am so mental on this

thanks Deva

 

[dburr]

I use 2 250's with reflectors. Reflectors are a must in my opinion.
I had 175's, but the 250's are way better for clams and SPS. Use the 175's for softies if that is what your keeping. Either way, use reflectors.

 

[devaji108]

yea I don't have clams mostly softies and a couple SPS which I was going to put high in the tank if I went with the 175 WMH.
+ I am worried that the 250W will heat the tank to much...no AC in my house in the summer
so I thinking I might have to go with the 175W.....

 

[acrylic51]

You can get by on using the 175's, but like advised earlier 250's would be a better choice.....175's IMO are a little weak for the tank.......Either way you look at it your going to need 4 MH's over the tank and you'll have to have 4 ballasts regardless no way around it.....You could conserve on space for the ballasts by purchasing dual MH setups verses 4 separate ballast boxes

 

[xoxox]

I'm upgrading to a 180 (72x24x24) and I'm going to use 3 250 watt HQIs. All will be seperate pendants (Not in a canopy) with pcs or vhos as supplements just to give you an idea.

 

[saltydog]

I maintain a 90 with 2) 175 MH's (10K) and 2) 110 VHO Actinic. I have a variety of SPS and LPS corals in the tank. All doing very nicely. Obviously, if you can afford it, when it comes to lighting and SPS more light is typically better. With that said, SPS high in the tank and plenty of flow and you should be good to go.
-Salty

 

[devaji108]

bump