Lighting question. need input

[fireman23]

I have a rr 110 that is 30 in tall. I currently run two 175w halides and two 54w t5 actinics. Heat is not an issue but should i upgrade to 250w for better coral placement? I really dont want to run a chiller. How much will this bring heat up hypothetical? Right now its mostly an lps tank with very few sps. If i put my palys in middle of tank they stretch out. Any input is helpful.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Do you feel you need more light at the moment for your current coral list?

 

[fireman23]

No not really. Wanting to venture more into sps and be able to put corals in more spaces . Want to be able to place more on sandbed

 

[Zef004]

Yes if you want corals on the sand it would a good idea to up grade too a 250w mh. Especially if you want to do SPS like acros. With adding heat to a tank there's a lot of factors Open top canop and the temperature of the room the tank is in.

 

[greg0385]

well with my 150 (48x24x31H) i have 2-250 watt MH phoenix 14k and 4 t5s on a icecapp 660. your rock work will play a huge role in sps placements. my par is 250-300 16" down, and 150+ on the sand bed. i keep the house temp around 75F and all i use is a few 4" fans in the canopy and a 12" fan on the sump. heat isn't really a issue, tank temp 78-80F. looking back i wish i had went just a little higher on the rockscape 16", but am happy with lighting im getting from MH and you will have sucess with them too.

 

[ToXIc]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/mtrc-trading-selling-forum/100073-fs-48-aqualight-pro-2x250w-mercury.html



:whistle::loco:

 

[fireman23]

Thats a good deal toxic but my budget is 150.00. I found set used. Trying to figure out if i should upgrade.

 

[bknapp]

For what it's worth I am running 2-250w metal halides and 2-54w T5's over my 110, same as yours 30 inch tank. I haven't played with a PAR meter yet but lighting seems good on the sand bed, I haven't put any SPS on the sand bed as of yet, I probably will before too long. Heat has yet to be an issue I have tow 6 inch clip on fans to help with cooling that are controlled by my ReefKeeper. One of them is over the sump and one over the tank. I would say if you wanted you could come and check out my set up but Cookeville is a good drive.