what watt mh do i need

armani4o3 · Jul 14, 2011

I have a 300 gal 96/24/31 tall and was wondering if 4 250w mh bulbs would work for a all Sps tank or if I need 400w mh bulbs. The tank will have a lot of ora and hi end Sps. Would rather only have to do my lighting once just don't want it to be to little with 250 or to much with 400

Xler8n · Jul 14, 2011

I would go 3 250 watt halides supplemented them with t5 actinics.

armani4o3 · Jul 15, 2011

Any others wanta add to this

iReefer · Jul 15, 2011

How about the sls galaxy select a watt or lumentek dimmable?
250/400

armani4o3 · Jul 17, 2011

I'm not asking about ballast. I need to set up my whole lighting system. But unsure what would be best

lsingh · Jul 17, 2011

Xler8n said:
I would go 3 250 watt halides supplemented them with t5 actinics.

+1 should be alright

dmorazan · Jul 17, 2011

I have a 300g 96inch long and you are correct 4 250w MH will do. 3 i dont think so will leave shadows. 400 is too much and 250 is just plenty. i have sps doninated with lots of lps ( favias, chalice, etc...) and is just perfect. if you want to run some t5 to give it a different look but is up to you . i get great growth.

lsingh · Jul 17, 2011

well depends upon the way u aquascape....3 should be fine too...but if its gne be over stocked all over the tank than 4mh

fish&corals · Jul 17, 2011

i have 2 150 watt hqi MHs i just set on my tank about 2 weeks ago . plus 8 bulds of T5s .. if i was you i would do the 4 250 watts on your tank with some T5s .. i have 2 MH kits for sale too ..

dmorazan · Jul 17, 2011

coverage is key. if he doest no care about coverage then each end will have less light. so 3 is not plenty of light. aquascape got nothing to do with coverage unles you dont have no lr or just in the middle which he said will have sps on it

lsingh · Jul 17, 2011

dmorazan said:
coverage is key. if he doest no care about coverage then each end will have less light. so 3 is not plenty of light. aquascape got nothing to do with coverage unles you dont have no lr or just in the middle which he said will have sps on it

i meant by aquascaping if its gne be under the bulbs...unless he planning to leave sps on sandbed i would go with 4 mh for sure

Murfman · Jul 17, 2011

I ran 3 400 W MH with 12K bulbs and it was too much for my chalices and acans. I now run 3 120W Evolution LEDs and have about 90 PAR on the sand bed.

dmorazan · Jul 17, 2011

lsingh said:
i meant by aquascaping if its gne be under the bulbs...unless he planning to leave sps on sandbed i would go with 4 mh for sure

i have this setupn with a well stablish tank.with lots of sps and lps. sps to the top. used to have 3 250w and there was some die off on the side plus the look was not great with shadows on each end. the rule is a 250w per 24inch. here is a a pic of it

kuyatwo · Jul 17, 2011

i would use 4 x lumenbright reflectors as they will put alot of par into the tank since your tank is 31" tall. when i had my 250 gallon tank i ran 3 x 250 watt radiums with large lumenbright reflectors and was able to grow anything in my tank even on the bottom of my tank

armani4o3 · Jul 17, 2011

thanks guys. i guess ill run 4 250 watt... one other question I have a bluewave 7 ballast that ran 2 de bulbs. can i use this same ballast to run se radiums bulbs ? I know i will need to get another one to power 4 but imo its a great ballast just dont know if i can burn se bulbs with it