[BigLar]

How many lights would be required for an 8ft 240 or 300 gal tank?

I currently have one 400w PFO with Iwasaki 6500k bulb. What's the best design for a new large tank using this light?

Should I continue to use the Iwasaki or go with PFO HQI?

[golfish]

If it were me I would go with the 4x400W Iwasakis and a bunch of VHO actinics. The Iwasaki's give off tons more light then the 250w HQI's. That's a 30" wide tank, Right?

[Ironreef]

Depends on what you keep. But 4 400w mh ballast would be best IMO you can run iwaski and/or 10k. The 400w hqi isn't really much more than ushio as far as par. then you are limited to 10k. You may want all 6.5 or even if you want all 10k you still have the option. With regular mh you can mix or run either.

[BigLar]

I want to have SPS and softies. Currently I can't keep Capnella, mushrooms, or other lower light soft corals under my 400 Iwasaki. What do you think about 400w 6500k Iwasaki's in the center and 250w 6500k Iwasaki's on the ends? This way I could have softies on the sides and SPS in the center.

[RWD]

I'm far from a lighting expert but I'll tell you what I'm running on my 300. I use 3- 400 watt Iwasaki's, 2 -72" (160 watt) and 4- 24" (75watt) vho actinics. Under the mh's I keep the sps's and the space between the bulbs I keep the less light demanding corals like leathers, mushrooms, etc. I suppose if you were to keep mostly stoney corals, 4 400 watt bulbs would work better but for my mixed reef 3 work fine. I can keep anything I want. My 2 cents,
Bob

[BigLar]

RWD,

Awsome tank!!! With only 3 MH's on an 8 foot tank, does the light blend well, or can you see light spots in between the bulbs?

[RWD]

Thanks Lar!
I have the bulbs mounted parallel in PFO reflectors so the light spread is pretty good. Some areas are lighter than others but not too drastic. As I said above, I want to keep a mixed reef so that is why I went with 3 bulbs. If you go with only 3 bulbs I would definatly stay with 400's. In my opinion, 250's won't be enough. Here is a full shot of my tank. It's an accurate picture of how bright the tank is. While you can see some brite spots, there really isn't any "dim" areas.

[reptilicus]

If you've alreday decided you like the Iwasakis and want to stick with them, go 4x400-watt Iwasakis and 4x160-watt VHO actinics.
Regards,
Tom

[BigLar]

Well, I went to my LFS today to price out a 300gal acrylic tank. He say's it will be about $1,600 for one made with 1" acrylic. With the price of the tank, extra rock, lights, etc. I may just go with my origanal plan of a 180.

So, if I was to go with the 180 and I used the 400w light for the center, do you think Iwasaki 250's would look bad on the sides of the 400? I'm leaning this way because I want soft corals too. I don't want it to look bad though.

Is anyone else doing something like this?

[BigLar]

Please help me decide, I want to order them soon!

[PerryinCA]

I would stick with the 400's. Ask Mark (Golfish) what he would do if he could do it over. He'll probably say he wished that he had gone for 400's. You'll be able to keep anything. Eric Borneman said in a thread a couple weeks ago that people are absolutely wrong is saying that SPS need more light than LPS or shrooms..ect. Polyp size has nothing to do with flow/light requirements in most cases. All types of coral are found in all types of conditions. Go with more light, and you'll be much happier.

-Perry

[BigLar]

Thanks Perry.

Golfish - What are you currently running? What and why would you change if you did it over?

[Reef Engineer]

BigLar,

I have a 300 gal tank and I'm using the same setup that Reptilicus suggested: 4-400w MHs and 4-160w VHO actinics. I also use 2-25w and 2-11w incadescent bulbs for moon lights.

I'm not sure why you are having such trouble with the corals you mentioned since I have them all and they are more than flourishing. As a matter of fact, I would like nothing more than for all my 'shrooms to shrivel up and die so that my sps could have more growing room but the things just keep multiplying like rabbits in the spring.

Heck, I was recently thinking of adding another 2-400w MHs in the 12,000K range (I currently use Iwasaki 6500K) in order to even out the coloration.

Have you ever seen a 250w Iwasaki next to a 400w Iwasaki? If you haven't, you'll probably change your mind as to how you want the setup. The 400w is noticeably brighter so the ends of your tank will appear "dim" by comparison. I currently have 4-250w MHs and 2-175w MHs in my garage collecting dust (along with some 6 month bulbs and some other brand new bulbs) because I cannot use them with my current system due to how they look. Of course, they can always be used on a grow-out tank!

Randy