advice on MH lighting?

[lucascoatney]

I am buying a 72 inch light fixture for my reef tank im starting up and I had a few questions. First off my tank is 220 gallons and it is approximatley 23 inches deep. Now should I get 400 watt or 250? i have read different things telling me different advice going in both ways. Next should there be 2 or 3 MH bulbs across the 72 inch fixture. Most of the 250 have 3 across but many of the 400's i have seen only have 2 across it. What is yalls advice on this. any info is appreciated. thank you.

 

[natclanwy]

You will want to use a fixture that has three bulbs, MH lights have a pretty narrow spread and the normal recomendation is one bulb for every two feet of length. The 250w fixture is more than adequate to keep any coral in your tank some of the more light demanding SPS may not be able to be placed on the very bottom.

 

[bullitr]

250 WATTS IS ENOUGH .2 400 WATTS WITH NOT COVER ENOUGH EVEN WITH LUMENARC, LUMENBRIGHT REFLECTOR. ITS ONLY 23" DEEP IN CAN PENETRATE EASY OR IF YOU WANT YOU CAN DO WHAT I DID 2 250 WATTS AND 1 400'S IF YOU REALLY WANT A DEEP LIGHT PENETRATION.

 

[kevin34]

I only have 2 250w MH bulbs over my 125 which is 6 feet and get plenty of light. I do have the lumenarc reflectors though. If I were you I would go with the 3 250w since its a deep tank.

 

[lucascoatney]

all right thanks a lot guys. i think that im gonna go with 3 250w. thanks

 

[grue]

Check out melvesreef dot com he just completed a huge light test.
Grue