new 400w halides

[b.crabby]

I just hooked my new dual 400w 6500k iwasaki dl with pfo eye mercury ballast system. At first i wasn't to happy with the yellow tint these lights put off, but after a couple of days, it seemed to get more white. Are my eyes starting to get used to the light or is the tint changing?(bulb breaking period?) I also have 2 110w vho actinic 03's running in addition to the halides. I don't know if this makes a difference or not but these lights are running on a 90 gal acrylic, 24" deep and are placed about 18" above the surface for now.

 

[HARRISON]

I have a question kind of along the same lines. I am setting up a new 80 gallon R and I want to put Halides over it. My question is which bulb do I go with and 250 or 400w? I have heard there can't be enough light but I am not sure when you figure energy costs and heat. I know someone is asking "what corals do you want?" I am not really sure yet other than my goal is to have Xenia. I have not had luck with them in a smaller tank. WWW.Championlighting.com seems to have the best deal on retros but I am stumped by which bulb. I f you have any imput on which watt or bulb you like I would appreciate it. I will probably order in a day or so...

Thanks
Harrison

 

[HARRISON]

oh...

I know that this is probably alot of light but I would rather do it right now than have to shell out more later and have useless lights, if that makes sense...

 

[Hammer]

The lights are just breaking in.

And I have 250 watt Iwasaki's on my 80 gallon. It is plenty of light. Too much for many corals in fact. But I have a 6" DSB, so that really brings everything closer to the lights.
In a tank under these lights, Xenia would need to be shaded to let them acclimate.
Plenty of light for anything that I know of though.

 

[esmithiii]

My xenia spread like mad under 115W PC. MH is too much! If you plan on SPS or LPS or clams in the future, go with the 400W.

E

 

[HARRISON]

Thanks for the "input" (spelled right this time). I bought the 250 watt and after looking at a couple LFS's I decided to get the 10k bulbs. I am going to add some 55watt actinic PC's as well I think. I will let you know how it works out...

 

[machinistX]

harrison, i have 1 400 watt 2 175 watt halides and 2 160 watt vho in a 135 gal and i toss xenia out once a month. My exp is they love light and high alk. Good luck. Joe