150w V 250w MH lighting

[Guinness]

OK.... Currently I am not keeping anything requiring intensive lighting. But i am planning to change my lighting. Considering either 150 or 250w MH

for a actual water depth of 22 -24 inch, will the wattage affect the penetration?

Besides running up a bigger electricity bill, what are the pro and cons of 250w ???

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[jd_n]

OK.... Currently I am not keeping anything requiring intensive lighting. But i am planning to change my lighting. Considering either 150 or 250w MH

for a actual water depth of 22 -24 inch, will the wattage affect the penetration?

Besides running up a bigger electricity bill, what are the pro and cons of 250w ???

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Well....u indeed posted it in the wrong section.

Pm the mod to help u move this thread to the proper section.

To answer ur ques....wattage plays a part in the pentration thru water. The 250W MH will of coz give u better penetration than the 150W. If u r running a chiller, go for the 250W MH which will last u even when u upgrade to a bigger size and deeper tank. Else get the 150W MH if u foresee tat ur tank will nvr exceed 1 1/2ft depth be it now or future. Fyi, 250W will definitely boil ur tank if ur current tank is a 2ft one runnin w/o chiller.

[Guinness]

The water depth is 23 inches.....

Thing is reading around, for such depths the suggested wattage is 400w, which i have not seen in sg and for which i suspect the cost is going to be ......big!

[Achilles Tang]

Moving out of this forum.

Unless of course, you're asking specifically for SPS corals?

[jd_n]

The water depth is 23 inches.....

Thing is reading around, for such depths the suggested wattage is 400w, which i have not seen in sg and for which i suspect the cost is going to be ......big!

hmm....23 inches isssssssssssss..less than 2ft(juz confirm usin measuring tape and if that depth is w/o sand and after filling sand in u could be left with abt 18inch of water). Anyway, to name a few, DB, Morgan, Seahorse......uses 250W MH for their tank which is deeper than urs. And i believe there r alot of others usung juz 150W for that depth of urs. I didn't hear of any complains frm them regardin the wattage of their's light. I m currently running a combination of 250W on the left 150W in the ctr and 400W on the right. And the 250W has served me well....of coz if u wanna go for a 400W, by all means...nuthin beats the sun. But bear in mind the heat produced.

[Guinness]

Moving out of this forum.

Unless of course, you're asking specifically for SPS corals?

Although i don't have any SPS as yet, may consider in the future so wanna keep my options open. I thought i'd post here cos the ppl in this section are probably likely to have looked through this subject and have more expertise on this subject. I thought "advanced Reefkeepers" would possess more technical knowledge of stuff like this.

Not quite sure where to post this. Apologies if this is the wrong place.

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On the subject of depth, the actual amount of water from sand bed to water level at overflow is around 23inches. tank height 2.5ft.

[ryz]

you have chiller? how big is your tank? tank height 2.5 ft?? WOW thats deep... 4 feet? 5 feet? get 250 lah.. 150 would be insufficient for that height.. then no need to upgrade lights if you plan to go to sps also..

just my two cents

[Joe_P]

If you could afford it... go 400 watts......

I had the opportunity to observed the colouring behaviour of SPS under different intensity of lightings .....and noticed that they colour up much more quickly under such conditions...

In fact, if lightings are intense enough, the possibility of a specimen turning brown when transferred to a new environment is greatly reduced....

Cos if that happens, getting it to colour up will take some time.....

[Achilles Tang]

Agree with Joe_p. I think I know whose tank he's referring to!

Anyway. Morgan is going to set up 400w MHs for his reef tank as he says his 250w MHs can't penetrate deep enough. It should be up sometime next century.

Frankly, for your depth, if you intend to keep clams and SPS at the sandbed level, then by all means, 400w is best. 250w is a compromise and 150w is no go.

Intense lighting is recommended for SPS.

Most of the ultimate tanks in the Ultimate Aquariums book are using much more than my 1600w of lightings and they have amazing colouration and growth of SPS corals.

I'll be showing some growth sequence soon of my SPS corals directly under 800w of MH lighting and you'll be shocked at how fast they can grow!

[Guinness]

Thanks to all who have replied with your opinions. Although now i just have an even bigger headache as to what to get for now.....

Can I summarise the thread as follows....

150w = stuff it....

250w= useable but elevate those livestock that would appreciate more intense light.

400w ++ = most advisable ..... except be prepared for big hole in my pocket (not to mention greater contribution to Singapore Power Employee Bonus Scheme)

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[Achilles Tang]

Well, if its any consolation... my corals all turned brown under 150w even when directly under the water surface under the MH... under 400w, once they adapt to the water conditions... its fast and furious with the colours!

I guess with 250w, its somewhere in the middle.

[AlfaRomeo]

When it comes to wattage, SE and DE plays a part too. DE is better than SE, but DE will need a protective UV glass as the bulbs are not shielded themselves. I believe those branded MH sets are mostly DE esp those from Europe.

[Achilles Tang]

I don't think there is a major difference between SE and DE bulbs.

Its just made in different sizes for different applications.

The protective outer glass envelope of SE bulbs does away with a need for a pendant with an additional UV glass.

The problem with SE bulbs is trusting that the UV glass supplied with pendants to be of a grade good enough to screen out harmful UV and not burn your corals or hurt yourself.

Even Hon still has problems with his Guiseman DE pendants which burnt his SPS corals. He has changed his UV glass a few times already.

[jd_n]

How abt 1000W.... The idea of 1000W has been layin domain in AT's mind for quite some time, juz need some reminding to lure him to the "bright side".

[Joe_P]

I don't think there is a major difference between SE and DE bulbs.

I'm beginning to get convinced that the DE bulbs gives better results than the SE....

Can't help it... the few rounds I made to reefers homes have actually convinced me.... colours do turn up better with reefs running on DEs.....

only problem with the DEs are the glass shieldings required.....

In fact, I'm contempleting to convert to DE bulbs for my new reef.....

[AlfaRomeo]

Lets see if a complete newbie like me can get SPS to color up and thrive with 250W DE. If I can do it, anyone can.. hehehe

[jd_n]

Lets see if a complete newbie like me can get SPS to color up and thrive with 250W DE. If I can do it, anyone can.. hehehe

Goodluck complete newbie. There r more than meet the eyes than juz lightin alone.

[Hon]

Even Hon still has problems with his Guiseman DE pendants which burnt his SPS corals. He has changed his UV glass a few times already.

The bulb got me again. Just change a pendant to a new BLV 10kk bulb on Sunday. Raise it 12 inch from the water line. Today I come home with "chao tar" sps under the light again Just raise it to 15 inch away now, let's see what happen tomolo

[roidan]

actually i read that 250DE is brighter than 400SE ..more so with a good reflector like giesemann's one

[Creetin]

Well, if its any consolation... my corals all turned brown under 150w even when directly under the water surface under the MH... under 400w, once they adapt to the water conditions... its fast and furious with the colours!

I guess with 250w, its somewhere in the middle.

u mean 150W DE/SE cant color up acros even when directly under it?

[CalciumReef]

[Achilles Tang]

DIY 400w SE units are cheaper to make than to purchase 250 DE pendant fixtures and are proven units for producing large amounts of PAR which reefers have used successfully currrently and in the past for SPS.

I think Robe prefers SE bulbs too and have used them for years.

Figures are still coming in for the newer 250DE bulbs like the Aquaconnect, Giesemann Megachrome etc and there are quite a few designs for DE reflector/fixtures with different light spread.

I may make the switch when I have more money, when the price of DE bulb fixtures start coming down and they start making more efficient reflectors for DE bulbs... I have seen too many tanks with shadows and darker zones which are commonly seen with DE reflectors vs SE reflectors which are much larger and cover more area.

My 2 cents.

[Guinness]

DIY 400w SE units are cheaper to make than to purchase 250 DE pendant fixtured

Any DIY guides?

Also, i take it 'cheap' here is a relative term. How cheap is cheap?

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I have no problems with DIY, but i do have problem with 'cheap'

[AlfaRomeo]

jdn, thanks for the well wishes. *fingers-crossed*

[alois]

It’s funny how everyone says 400w is the way to go. I think it is a myth that you have to have 400w halide to get great colours.

There are tests out that confirm that 250w double ended is almost as bright as a 400w halide.

Even if you have a tank that is 23 inches deep, who keeps their acros at the bottom; most are at the top of the tank.

I have used 400w and did not notice much difference in colours or growth.

Most Germans used 250w lamps and their acros look fantastic. I have a friend that uses 150w and his acros are a very nice colour and he gets great growth..