Opinions on MH lighting

[rickjames]

Originally Posted by Funky_Fish14

Hey,

I would go with the 400 watters. Im running a 400W(10K) over my 33. BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT! Lol. Make sure to put your 400W close enough to the 250 so that it doesnt look like the center of your tank is darker. BTW: Go with TAR ballast. Cheaper than PULSE.(Well at J&L anyways)

Chris

son agro burns 'em brighter! Plus you can't (for the most part) run european bulbs on a probe start ballast (what you refer to as TAR).

I have been reading lots of posts on reef central, both XM and Ushio 10K are reported to run very well on the 400W HQI (aka. son agro). Some guys are running them over a year, unlike the Radiums, with no noticeable change in coral growth or bulb colour.

I bought my ballasts from the local hydophonics shop on the weekend, 100$ each, they are made by advanced I think. I still haven't decided which bulbs to run, either the Ushio or the XM's. Probably the XM's though, they have the highest PAR value for a 400W SE bulb and a colour of 13000K in Sanjay's tests. Plus they are 30$ cheaper