Lighting dilema

[jsbradbury]

This week I am going to get metal halides for my tank. It is a brand new setup, and I just can't seem to make up my mind. Last weekend I put the sand and rock in, still in the cycling phase, so I don't have any livestock at all. It's a 75g tank (48"x18"x21"), 3.5" DSB and about 135lbs of live rock. I think I did a pretty good job on the aquascaping that I have a bunch of shelves, crevices and shaded areas that should enable me to house a wide varity of life. Ok, so now here's the question: I'm gonna get a 2x96w power compact actinic setup to suppliment....

a) 2x 175w
b) 2x 250w
c) 2x 400w, or
d) 2x 250w HQI

I've heard that the 250w HQI will put out as much light as the single ended 400w bulb, but is this an overkill? The price on all these from Hellolights.com is within 20 dollars from eachother, so that's not an issue. I really need some help deciding on this, up until 20 minutes ago I was sure I wanted the HQI setup, but now....

 

[PeeJ]

I have B on my 100 gallon...and it is plenty bright.

From what I have been told, there really is no need for anymore than 250 watts with tanks that are pretty shallow like ours.

 

[kim]

I really can't fathom the claims that a 250 W lamp gives off more light than a 400 W lamp...it's a little silly.

I think that you may find that the compact reflectors available for DE lamps are more effective than the (usually) poorly-designed reflectors available for SE lamps (often adapted from the hydroponics business, whose requirements are quite different from our own...only the Luminarc even begins to look sensible to me).

At the end of the day, of course, an outperforming reflector is a fair reason to go with DE lamps, especially for smaller set-ups. SE lamps are bulky, and a suitable reflector will therefore also be bulky. I am building my own reflectors for my SE 400 W lamps. If I had selected a lower wattage, I would most surely have gone DE.

(DE = double ended, which for you may mean HQI. It's a language thingy ! )

kim

[Edit...typos]

 

[PeeJ]

The HQI ballast is really awesome. It doesn't give off more than the 400s, but it comes pretty damn close.

 

[Anonymous]

I really can't fathom the claims that a 250 W lamp gives off more light than a 400 W lamp...it's a little silly.

I have looked at 250 DE and Mogul side by side. I could look directly at the Mogul, but not at the DE. This was without a reflector on either.

I am a big fan of the 250 DE's. The seem as bright as 400's and use less juice.

 

[jsbradbury]

Yea, I think I'll go with the 250w HQI.

 

[PeeJ]

I can stare right into the sun.

 

[K9coral]

Your gonna go blind doing that :!:

 

[mac_guy]

You cant go wrong with the HQIs....

 

[reefann]

Righty- what bulbs were the 250 and 400? I can not stare into my 400watt Ushios. Well I can but it hurts like hell and I see white for a long time, and thats not directly into the center.
For your purpose the 250DE's should be fine.
The ballasts may not cost much different but I think that the electric bill is where you would pay.
_________________
financial bailout

 

[Anonymous]

They were 20 k.

 

[-JB]

The reflectors allow the 250 DE to put as much and sometimes more light into the tank than a 400 watt SE MH. The bulb itself is not brighter than a 400, in some cases not even brighter than a 250 SE bulb. But the reflectors make up for the difference.

HTH

 

[jsbradbury]

I was just gonna go with a polished aluminum reflector, is there a different one I don't know about that would be better than that?