[fishgeeksrus]

We are debating between 250w vs 400w. We are going to have a majority of sps corals. We also may want a few soft corals. Should we put 250's or 400's?

[zhenya]

If I remember correctly,you are setting up a 180g.Right?
I'm not sure what wattage you'd like better but here's a link to Joe Burger's(JB NY) site, he has the same size tank and you can see how it looks with 3x250W bulbs.
http://www.cnidarianreef.com/

400 watters are nice but they heat up a tank in a heart beat,IMO.

[fishgeeksrus]

Thanks I will check that out

[Poseidon]

Personally I'd go with the 250's as well. Unless you plan on putting SPS WAY DOWN ON THE SAND, you will just be paying more on the electric bill!!!

[Reefland]

I agree, I think the 250w bulbs will be plenty and will not over heat your tank; the 400w bulbs may require you to get a chiller.

Scott Z.

[fishgeeksrus]

Thanks for suggestions. I guess what made me question this was... I have noticed that a lot of the web sites that are selling frags are using 400w with shallow vats. The colors are unbelievable on some of these corals. I though maybe the 400w makes for more brilliant colors.

Scott, I will have to get a chiller anyway. The canopy that we built is enclosed and the tank is in a smaller room.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

Thanks for suggestions. I guess what made me question this was... I have noticed that a lot of the web sites that are selling frags are using 400w with shallow vats. The colors are unbelievable on some of these corals. I though maybe the 400w makes for more brilliant colors.

Scott, I will have to get a chiller anyway. The canopy that we built is enclosed and the tank is in a smaller room.

If you are getting the chiller and set on buying those frags that you had seen under 400 watters I would just go ahead and go with the same lighting then.
Makes acclimating frags much easier,IMO. If you will be getting some softies,I'd make sure to check if they will not cause any problems for your stonies with allelopathic activities. Some of them are just down right nasty and pack a wallop as far as toxins are concern. Something to think about

As far as heat concerns and size of the room.., I have my 75g tank presently in a small room that I use as a office space(about 12x14) that has one window.This tank is lit with two 250w MH and I have an open tank and my canopy is elevated from the tank,the room heats up like mad with one fan blowing hot air from that canopy and open window. I can't set up my chiller eventhough I have one becouse it will heat up the room even more.Just another thing to consider

[dougc]

Don't forget that a propagation facility is going for maximum growth in addition to optimal coloration, which may cause them to choose 400w lighting over 250s. You probably won't have the need to maximize growth.

I found the "Ultimate Marine Aquariums" book to be useful in making lighting decisions; lots of good photos and a complete listing of equipment for each featured tank. There were plenty of superb examples of tanks lit with 250w DE bulbs.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

Thanks for suggestions. I guess what made me question this was... I have noticed that a lot of the web sites that are selling frags are using 400w with shallow vats. The colors are unbelievable on some of these corals. I though maybe the 400w makes for more brilliant colors.

Scott, I will have to get a chiller anyway. The canopy that we built is enclosed and the tank is in a smaller room.

You have to draw the line somewhere. Just because one coral specimen is more colorful than another one doesn't necessarily mean it is healthier. It is just prettier in our eyes.

If you want to go to the extreme, you can get some extremely colorful SPS like this guy: http://ghchhilojack.homestead.com/Acropora.html See how pretty his corals are? Aren't they EXTREMELY colorful? They should be. He's running 2,350 watts over a 57-gal corner tank (one 1,000w, three 400w and two 75w VHO actinics).

I'm running 250w 10,000K HQI DE lamps because they use less electricity than 400w lamps while producing more PAR than some 400w lamps and almost as much PAR as the best 400w lamps. I wouldn't mind running 1,000w lamps myself if I had a really large tank, an unlimited budget and a way to deal with the heat.

I think your "best buy" for tanks less than 30" high are 250w 10,000K HQI DE lamps.

[fishgeeksrus]

I think we are just going to go with the 250w mh's. Maybe if we want to go a little more extreme in the future, we will consider upgrading. Now we are just waiting for them to come in. Then next item is probably the chiller.