400 watt or 250

[greatwhite]

I bought 2 400 ballast in the spring and I had to fight with temp problems all spring.What is the difference in temp between the 250s and 400 watt?I was told 400 watt would bring out better color but my sps are not that colorful.In fact I bought a pink birds nest that had great color only to watch the color slowly fade away.Maybe I need 20ks.

 

[toptank]

You will get all sorts of opinions on your subject. I also bought 3 x 400ers for my 180 and had a heat problem as I do not have a chiller so I went back to 3 x 250 and now my temp is staying around 80 - 82 w/ 2 x 140watt VHOs for suppliments. IME I would not go with 400s unless I had a chiller.

[ November 07, 2001: Message edited by: toptank ]</p>

 

[hurrifan]

I just put 400 W on my 180 tank and I do not have a heat problem. However, I have a total of 6 fans. 2 fans in the hood venting hot air out. 3 Fans (Cheap HD $7 desk fans with a clip attachment) directly pointing at each light and 1 on the sump. It keeps my temp right at 81 with the a/c off during the day. I have, however, adjusted my timer to turn the lights on at around 1pm. With the heat down here the tank gets hotter as the day goes on. However, by the time the tank starts to heat up this way, the sun is going down and I come home and turn on the a/c. has worked well for me so far. HTH.