[110galreef]

Basically I have a 110 gallon tank 24" deep with 2-175w MH and 2- 110w VHO's. All has been well and all seem happy. Bulbs are about due for a replacement though. Do I step up to 250w bulbs and ballast?? I however don't want to be dealing with cleaning issues as this tank is in my office. I have never had an algae problem and the only maintenece is removing the film that grow on the acrylic that the snails miss and small brown/red dots that appear after about two weeks as well.

So will the Higher Wattt MH lead to more cleaning and maintenece?

Basically since everything is fine i figure if it's not broke don't fix it. However, I would assume that 250w MH will look better and be better for the corals (mostly softies and LPS...want to get a few SPS and clam.) Or just keep the 175w.

[110galreef]

Here is a picture of the tank!

[Ninong]

If you're happy with what you have now, why change it?

Changing from 175 watt lamps to 250 watt lamps will have no effect on nuisance algae one way or the other. Nitrate and phosphate affect algae.

If you do decide to switch from 175 watt lamps to 250 watt lamps, be sure to reduce your photoperiod for at least three to four weeks to allow the corals time to adapt to the increase in intensity. Even better than that would be to raise the lights higher above the surface and leave the photoperiod unchanged but that's not usually practical. Be aware of the fact that the 250w lamps will raise the temperature of the water more than the 175w lamps.

[110galreef]

I have achiller so water temp isn't an issue.