400 Watt or 250 MH for 75?

[Bashiba]

I was recently planning on converting a 55 gallon freshwater tank I had into a reef tank. In the process of looking for some good deals on equipment I found a used 75 gallon complete salt water set up cheap that I am going to pick-up this weekend. This tank was used as a FOWLR(in fact I even get the fish and rock!) and the lighting is inadequate for a reef setup. I am thinking of adding a PFO Dual MH Kit to it, plus I have 2 NO strips and a 110 PC Strip I can also use to supplement it. I was wondering if there is any reason I shouldn't get the dual 400 watt instead of the 250 watt setup? The initial setup is only $1.00 more for the 400 watt and the bulbs are the same price, is there any big drawback to the 400 watts that I am missing? Is the heat that much greater? What about power consumption?
Thanks in advance
Bashiba

[Ltspd]

Heat and power.

To deal with the heat a chiller is needed more than likely. To deal with the increase in power consumption more money.

[golfish]

Paul has brought up a few issues you will have to deal with using the 400's over the 250's. IMO, 250 watt Iwasaki's ran on a STANDARD (NOT EYE) PFO ballast will be your best bang for the buck. This along with 2x55watt actinics should look very nice and be great for just about any corals you want to keep......

[naser]

see i run two 400 watters but alittle different so i dont get all the heat from both. ive got one that turns on in the morning about 9 till 2 the other turns on at 1 and stays on till 6.. thats five hours each and one hour that they are both on. plus my two 55pc's that are on the whole time. its just an approach that i use. i thought its kinda cool. its really like sun up sun down. goes from left to right.

[PerryinCA]

If I had the choice, I would go with 400w. I use 3 250w over a 90 gal (same base size as a 75). The heat can be dealt with by using 3-4 4" fans in the canopy, provided that the room is ventelated well. Its surprising how much a humod room can cause the heat to go up. Personally I use 2, then I have a 6" fan over the sump that is connected to a dual stage temp controller. The sump fan comes on if the temp goes over 81. My temp doesn't doesn't get over 82, even with a temp of 78 in the house.

The power consumption won't be more than an extra $10-15 a month MAX. Its up to you to decide if thats alot.

The 250w route is probably less hassle, but more experienced reefers will likely take the extra costs with the benefits. Main benefits being coral coloration, growth, and ease of placement.

The 250w Iwasakis will allow you to keep anything you want, but placement will be a concern for some species.

-Perry

[Ironreef]

Depends on what you keep. sps clams I would get the 400w softies and lps 250 will be fine. There more than just lighting. Look at playfairs tank he has nice sps with just 175w. He may get more color with more watts but it depends on what you keep and how good your math is. I went from vho to 250w halides and my bill went up @$50 a month. I figures 10 but then the fans rates go up at diferent times of the day. the more you use rates go up more. But i also added an Iwaki40= power hog.