New 300 gal tank setup

[Willito]

Originally Posted by surgeonfish

At present I am using a 10 000K 400W MH and 2x65W compacts. The tank is 48" deep. I don't have a lot of corals yet, but my single Acropora sp. (which is down low) seems to be doing O.K. although I haven't seen any growth since I got it in June. I was thinking of getting a second 400W MH. Would anyone recomment something different like a 1000W? Should I be seeing some growth in the Acropora by now?
Thanks

Nice design! Chicks dig deep tanks too!

With the little amount of corals that you do have, you probably won't need more lights yet. If you plan on keeping more acros throughout the tank, you will need more light. I have a similar configuration, half hexagon-shaped on top of the stairweel. It's a pain to work on when you have to use stools and hang from the railings...but it's worth it.

You might want to stay away from 1000watters. They are very expensive to maintain anyway you look at it. When I was setting up my lights, I had a hard time coming up with the right configuration to achieve the eveness. I used 150,250, and 400w, but settled on 3x250 in the end. Using 1000w in such a confine space will produce alot of other problems. What might work is if you set your rocks in a way that it rises midway up the tank, use 2 or 3 400w, and set your corals on top. That should give good results. Can't wait to see more corals in there.