Lighting suggestions?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

The column to look at is "watts". Note that the 250W SE XM 10K is a PAR monster, but uses 374 watts (!) with most others falling in around 330. The ballast is simply overdriving the bulbs the same way an Icecap 660 ballast overdrives, for example, 54W T5HO bulbs to around 80W giving you more PAR ooomph.

Ohhhhhhhhh, I get it. I didn't realise that overdriving the bulb would actually draw more power. I thought a 250w ballast would draw 250w no matter what. I never really looked at that watts column before, but it seems like most bulb/ballast configurations are way over their "rated" wattage anyway, so really it's still all relative.

I really like the color you're getting on your tank. Makes me happy on my decision! Nice corals too btw!