decisions decisions..

[iloverenae]

gday

setting up a 120 gal planning on keeping some hard corals, SPS and LPS

question on lighting. do i

a) go with 2 14000k 150w MH with 2 10000k flourescents 40w ea

b) 2 14000k 150w MH and 4 24w actinics (comes in a package thingy!)

c) 1 x 450w MH and 2 x 10 000k flourescents

or
d) 2 x 400w MH and 2 flourescents

i am in australia and havent seen 250 w anywhere so i thin i am left with either a little two much light or a little under on the watts to gallons scale

any opinions

 

[Anonymous]

Definitely not 1 MH, that would not be cool on the 120. Have you seen the 1400K lights? Maybe you don't need the actinic....

Too bad you can't get the 250 double ended bulbs- I have 2 of them on my 120 and they are axcellent. I have one radium 400 in the middle for some blue.

I guess I would go with d, although it will cost you more for power. ChrisRD has used the 150s, maybe he will chime in...

 

[iloverenae]

thanks
no have not seen them only rang and asked today and that was the info.

yeah if i can find 250's i will def purchase but if not then not sure

thanks anyway

 

[mountainbiker619]

the 14k's I used to own (Blueline 10k+) were very blue. I was going to run some 10k VHO's just to brighten things up. But I switched to 12k's instead.

 

[ChrisRD]

On a tank that deep (assuming it's a standard 120 - 2' deep) if you're going to keep SPS corals I'd go with the higher wattage lamps. I think you'll find a lot of SPS corals won't color-up or grow very well under the 150s unless they are at the very top of the tank.

If the tank will be mostly LPS and softies then I think you'll be OK with the 150s.

JMO...

 

[Anonymous]

I think i would go the higher Wattage and raise the lights up higher off the tank if thats a concern?

 

[J.Howard]

I'm with the majority...for the SPS why not invest in the 400watts with a little margin on the plus side of the wattage equation? (unless you can get 250's) Like LN said, you can always adjust the height to compensate for the increased light.

 

[Anonymous]

I would just use the 2 400 watt Metal Halides