Should I go from 2X175 MH to single 400W MH?

[jaustin]

I've been thinking about increasing my lighting. My tank is a 36" 65g that's 30" deep and i'm thinking I can get better growth with a single 400W MH. What do you guys think about that?

Do you think a single 400W MH can fill a 36" tank with light? I can make a luminarc reflector no problem to help cast the light out.

It seems that when any of my sps corals get to be a decent size they lose color slowley and die. All other corals LPS and softies are fine. I'm thinking I just might not have enough light. Currentley I have two 20K XM's driven by mag ballasts which out par many 10K 175w bulbs.

let me know what you think
Thanks for any input

 

[enderg60]

I run a single 400w and two 39w T5's on my 58g(same as yours just 3" shorter)

I used a custom luminarc style reflector which was cut in half and extended to 35" long. It works very well, but I added the two t5's to get some light into the overhangs as well.

Overall i love the setup for this size tank, but i had to get a chiller to take care of the heat when I started doing sps. LPS and softies didnt really care about the 84 degree summers.

Oh and with the xm20k in 400w i can grow acro's at the bottom no problem. But Id like to find a bulb thats a bit more blue rather then purple.

 

[jaustin]

EnderG60, thank you for your information. I have two 175's now and heat isn't an issue. I have two kick butt fans in my hood that keep things cool no problem. I love the evap because my top off is a kalkwasser mix and that keeps my params steady.

My 175W MH are XM's and i love them. I have two VHO bulbs to add a little more light, one is a super actinic and the other is a 50/50, both help out with a little more spectrum. I will be keeping the VHO's with the 400 MH bulb setup.

Oh and I'll do what you did with the reflector. I'll make another luminarc style reflector...cut it in half and extend it. It will look kinda like a canoe.

 

[enderg60]

yup that will work just fine. Really cuts down on bulb replacement costs, and if your using a magnetic ballast should put out more light as well.

But if your have a AGA 65g then I would recommend replacing the center brace with 1/4" lexan though. Or a metal cable.

Yeah you might be a bit better on the temp problem then me since you have a bit more water volume.

When you extend the reflector just make sure you keep the bulb in the middle, and dont move it off to one side.

 

[jaustin]

Oh i'll keep the bulb in the middle for sure. I have about 20 more gallons in the sump in the 30Tall. I'll be set with the single halide because i do not have a center brace.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[johnr2604]

IMHO I think a 250w will do just fine and 400w is way overkill. I think alot of people tend to overkill there lighting anyway. I know somebody here that has some of the nicest SPS on ARC and they only run dual 150's on a 90 gallon. Lighting is only a small part of keeping SPS and if everything else is on then you dont have to blast the corals with 1.8 gigawatts of light and you dont have to pay monster power bills.