MH lighting

[martym]

I'm getting a tax refund soon and I'm think of getting MH lighting. The tank is 75g. Should I look for 250w, or 400w? I think I'll go with 10k bulbs with NO actinic. Has anyone used coralife MH lighting systems? What do you think of it?
Thanks for the info.

[Jack]

I reccomend 250w in your situation unless you plan on upgrading filtration, circulation and cooling at the same time. Dual 400w can be done on a tank that size but with care taken.

[martym]

Jack, What about dual 175's. How well would that work? Probably couldn't keep SPS but I preferr softies and LPS

[robbyville]

Hi Marty,

I also echo the 250's. Yes you can go with 175's but why bother? The price difference between the two is negligeable and the versatility of the 250's is better IMO. I don't kow much about 400's other than there are many out there with your size tank that use them, but cooling can be an issue. I have dual 250's on my 60 gal tank and have had no real problems with heat.

HTH,

Rob

[BCOrchidGuy]

Two 250s can be a nice way to go, 175s would be fine though for softies and LPS, but if you want SPS like I mentioned earlier, go for the 250s. I had the two 175s over my 90 and my softies and LPS did great.

Doug

[Jack]

Most softies and LPS can tolerate the 250w halides if acllimated properly. Rob makes a great point, the price difference is pretty negligible between the two setups.

Although 175w can keep SPS it won't give the best results, unless it's a shallower tank. But digitata grows rapidly under 175's (if that's as far as you want to go, sps-wise)

[Skimmerking]

I 'm thinking of up grading to A 250 SINGLE 20 K. I thought about using a sigle 400 w set up on my 75 gal tank ,it's going to be sps and clams in there. Doug lowey has a 400 w on his 75 gal with the sps and had problems with the corals bleaching.

ANy in put on that.

If i go with the 250 single i dont think it would be a problem for heat and evaporation..

Mike