tampa aquarium visit 400gal w/mh ?'s

damsel · 10-25-2003, 08:32 PM

just when I thought I had made up my mind on lighting
I went to the tampa aquarium to day and they had a 400 gal reef tank any way my tank is much longer and not as deep 125 6 ft and 23 1/2 deep, they were only using 3 175 mhs, with a couple of blues, well now Im not sure why I would go with 3 250's and a couple of vho, my thought is if they can get their tank to grow with what they are using with a much deeper tank what would I need to go to 3 250's for
any thoughts would be appreciated you all have such nice tanks and have so much experience that I would like to hear what you think

Casey · 10-25-2003, 08:33 PM

Because the par on 175s is crappy you will get much better color with the 250s

I run them on my 100

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 08:35 PM

Well, I have a 120 with 2 175watt Mhs and I so wish I could go back and get the 250watts. It's not a whole lot more money to go with the 250s. It matters how deep the tank is but if you want shrooms or clams I would go with 250s. JUst trying to save you peace of mind!

damsel · 10-25-2003, 08:41 PM

well they did have a GIANT CLAM sitting at the top pretty close to the top (about an inch or so from the top of the water) it was a blue one. what do you mean color wise casey

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 08:56 PM

Casey do you mean the kelvin or lux as in intensity? 175s will work, look at the tank of the month, Dennis uses 175s. But as I said, if I could do it again I would go with 250s. I'll probably upgrade next year, hopefully...

Casey · 10-25-2003, 09:08 PM

Well of course it can be done with 175s I didnt say it couldnt be done What I meant was par the light intensity that is available for lets say clams placed on the bottom of a tank like mine 250s
give more light for the clams to use photosynthetically than the 175s they lose it first and the 400s give a little more than the 250s with the 250s I can place my clams on the bottom of the tank I dont have to put them up at the top ,I also run 175s on my wifes tank and my tank has the 250s My acros and clams color up better under the 250s.

damsel · 10-25-2003, 09:28 PM

what size is your wifes tank and do you have any recent pictures of your tank or maybe the wifes tank (what is wifes name)

Casey · 10-25-2003, 09:50 PM

My tank is 100 hers is a 75 I also have a 180 sorry camera is still in the shop.

Reefdude5 · 10-26-2003, 12:33 AM

Casey, everytime I hear the word "halide" I wish i had 250s!

Also, I don't want to hijack the thread or anything, but the maxima isn't opening very wide any more, he is at the top though, and I couldn't find any parasitic snails!

gregt · 10-26-2003, 05:42 AM

I personally would not use the tank you mention as an example to copy.

However, my experience is that if you like the color of the light, 175's are more than enough to keep SPS or clams healthy in 24" of water. Especially if you keep the bulbs swapped out properly. JMO.

AquaticCo · 10-26-2003, 06:18 AM

I have two tanks, one is a 55 with 175-watt 14k's, tank two has two 250-watt DE's with 03 PC's. Although I like both tanks and can and do keep sps in both tanks my tank with the DE's growth is a lot better than the 175's. This also has to do with the par rating on the 14k's which is kind of low where as the par value of the DE's is through the roof.

If I were you I would go with the 250's, the price difference is next to nothing, unless you go electronic and that's a different story.

Doug

galleon · 10-26-2003, 06:30 AM

Quote:

I personally would not use the tank you mention as an example to copy.

Ditto to what Greg said. Sean told me that tank was actually a donated setup, and if I remember correctly, came with the 175 lighting.

On another note, last time I was there talking to Sean, it was August and we spend most of the time in the greenhouse. Would A/C really be that bad of an investment? I feel sorry for the poor intern who does his static volume/mass measurements of colonies.

Casey · 10-26-2003, 07:34 AM

Just go with the 250s and end all your worries once and for all

damsel · 10-26-2003, 07:50 AM

ok, back with the 250's, now my other question Im really thinking I will probably have to get a chiller with the 250's, and the electric bill from what I have been told will now be quite a bit more each month. What have your experiences been?

Casey · 10-26-2003, 08:14 AM

No chiller here I use fans power bill is $300 a month in Florida I have 4 tanks. and 4 kidds