Help with Lighting Intensity

[bjohnk]

Setting up a new 100 gallon (60" X 18" X 30"(?) reef tank (my first). At this point I am not sure what corals and other invertabrates I will be including so I want the lighting to be intense enough to meet virtually any situation. I have been given conflicting opinions about the lighting. Will 2 175 Watt Halides be enough light to accomodate a 30" deep tank? Does a 30" deep tank cause more troubels than it is worth?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

[kevinnq]

I have talked to marinedepot.com people and that they said for 30" H, you need to have 400W MH, even 250W MH cant do much b/c it is deep. hope that help.

[Caoineag]

I am afraid I have to agree with the other poster, you are going to need 400w if you want the lower level of your tank to have anything that needs light. 30" is really deep and light penetration drops dramatically.

[bjohnk]

Thank you for the quick responses, just one question for clarificaion...when you refer to 400watts min is that 2 400 watt bulbs or a total of 400 watts?

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! it pepends on what corals your going to keep ,but 2 400W should do any kind.

[ski1297]

With 2x400w you can have any thing you want! Welcome to TRT!

[bjohnk]

Thanks to all!

[DlBerlin]

I use 250w on my 30" tank and its fine. No need for 400w unless you want acros on the bottom!
Deb

[Krux]

The setup cost difference between 250 watt and 400 watt lights is not going to be huge, so based on that, going with 400 watters gives you the most flexibility. You also need to consider long term some other costs associated as a trade off for that flexibility... increased power consumption and thus a higher energy bill, as well as heat buildup and the need for cooling in the warmer months. Many folks run 250 watt systems without chillers, but even in portland where it is relatively cool, almost all 400 watt tanks require chillers, if only for the summer months.

hope that helped a little bit. if you do some research and can narrow in a bit more on what interests you coral and invert wise we can be a bit more specific, but for now, that's about the best I can offer.

in any case, 175 watt halides are going to be underpowered for all but the most dedicated soft coral or fish only tank on a tank of that height.