Lighting

[JasonS]

I need some advice on my coming lighting upgrade. My tank is 36"L and 24"T.

I was originally thinking about a single 400W bulb but after doing some more reading, mainly on wetwebfotos, I read some articles by Steven Pro saying that 400 watts for this size tank is way overkill and would limit me to very few sps's and clams.

So, after reading that I'm rethinking my options. 1st, the top of my canopy is only 10.5 inches off the water surface, I figure the bulb would end up 9" off the water? That sound about right? More of what I read recommends the minimum distance for a 250W is 9" and a 400W needs more space. Ok, so now I'm really second guessing my choice. Steven Pro's recomendation to a guy with a tank that has the same dimensions as mine was a 175W MH, he said that would be plenty for softies, hammer, brain, etc...which is really what I'm interested in keeping.

I currently have 288W PC's half 10k half actinic, if I move to a single 175W MH, am I upgrading or down grading? My watts per gallon goes down but I know MH's penetrate deeper than PC's.

Ok, so to wrap this up and keep it as simple as possible, what I would like is a single bulb solution that will allow me to keep softies, hammers, brains, maybe just maybe some LPS. Regarding what I have read do you think a 175W 14k bulb would do the trick?

Sorry about the length and thanks in advance.

Jason

[dan]

if you want to do a few sps than i would go with a 250 and do some atinics on the side. my tank is 24'' tall as well and i have two 250w 10k and one 400w- 20k. i do montis and accros plus i have some softies and lps. if your going with one bulb than thats what i would do that way your less light corals you can put on each end of the tank. a lot has to do with acclimation. i have a sofe pin cussion leather right under my 400w. the only effect is that it's to big and i'd like to move it. hope this helps a little.

[mathias]

what about T5's?

[Ross]

My tank is 36Lx18wx21H and i have a 400w mh over it. Its VERY bright....sps do good...but shrooms dont...i have to put them in the shade if i want to them to open up.

[dan]

the hairies shrooms dont mind but ross is right about the others. they go on the floor under a lege.

[witecap4u]

You could either do a 250 or 400, and be able to keep pretty much anything you want to. I ran a 400W on a 24"x24"x24" tank. The only problem I had was heat, which was solved by putting a fan in the canopy which came on when the halide come on.

If I were doing that size of tank, I'd probably got with a 250W 20K

[JasonS]

Thanks for all the help, I'm kinda leaning toward a 250w, as that sounds like it will grant me the most diversity in corals.

Also, is there such a thing as a 1 bulb solution? I know 20k's are pretty blue and would need some supplemental lighting for visual appeal. I have read that 14k's can be done with no suplemental lighting. Does that sound feasable?

Thanks

[JasonS]

Again thanks for the replies, I ended up going with a single 250w 14k. I'll post some pics when then new lights come in.