175W enough for SPS?

BlueAbyss · #1 02-07-2009, 07:46 PM

Alright I'm stuck. Again

Is a 175W MH gonna be enough to have SPS?

The tank is only a 20 tall, and I'd rather not have a more powerful light than I need, since I do plan on running them for 8 hours a day. But if I get the 30 tall which has the same dimensions but longer, I might want something more powerful... any thoughts would be helpful.

BlueAbyss · #2 02-07-2009, 08:44 PM

Hmm I should have put this into a different spot, it should probably have gone into the equipment forum.

Snappy · #3 02-07-2009, 09:43 PM

Yes you can grow most sps under 175 watt MH but many of them will need to be placed fairly high up to get good colour.

Veng68 · #4 02-07-2009, 10:47 PM

Iwasaki 14K (sometimes called 15K) 175 watt MH with an electronic ballast has been tested to have the most PAR of the 175 watt bulbs.

Cheers,
Vic

Aquattro · #5 02-08-2009, 01:31 AM

I used 175w for the first year of SPS keeping. They'll live, and grow a bit, but not the same as you'd get with bigger bulbs. Especially if you go deeper, you'll want at least 250w.

Veng68 · #6 02-08-2009, 01:56 AM

The 175 watt Iwasaki with an electronic ballast is supposed to have as much PAR as any 250 watt bulb according to Sanjay Joshi.

It's a pricey bulb though.

Cheers,
Vic

High tide · #7 02-09-2009, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Alright I'm stuck. Again

Is a 175W MH gonna be enough to have SPS?

The tank is only a 20 tall, and I'd rather not have a more powerful light than I need, since I do plan on running them for 8 hours a day. But if I get the 30 tall which has the same dimensions but longer, I might want something more powerful... any thoughts would be helpful.

Yes, a 175w MH will be ample on a 20 gal. aquarium. Your SPS will be fine at different levels of the aquarium. The Iwasaki was a good recommendation.

BlueAbyss · #8 02-09-2009, 08:40 PM

Indeed, upon further reading the Iwasaki bulb is very white when run with a good electronic ballast. So that's what I'm going with