Is 400watts too much for a 120?

[skidclan4]

I currently have a 150 gallon tank that is 29 inches tall and have 400 watt coralvue reeflux 10k bulbs over the tank. I like the look of the bulbs and the corals seem to be doing very well with the amount of light at all depths of the tank.

Part of the deal in getting a new house was that I finally could buy a tank brand new instead of buying used all the time. I ended up buying a 120 gallon Oceanic Tech series with the Starphire glass. Can't wait to set it up however, I am concerned that the 400 watt halides might be too much for my sps. Does anyone have any thoughts that could shed some light? NO PUN Intended. I figured acclimation is a guaranteed. What are you running on a 24" deep tank?

As always thanks for the great advice.

 

[drummereef]

A lot of people use 400 watt bulbs over 2' deep tanks. Many actually prefer the 400watt XM 20k because of it's color and PAR value.

 

[Scooterman]

If your going with a 4ft 120g 24" deep, then two 250w 10k reeflux would be fine for that tank, probably little acclimation would be required.

 

[Jan]

What are the best ballasts to use with the 10K 250 watt Reflux bulbs?

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Your current 400W bulbs at about 9" off the water are what I would recommend for a 120.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[kevinpo]

What are the best ballasts to use with the 10K 250 watt Reflux bulbs?

Are they mogul mount or double ended bulbs?

Kevin

 

[Scooterman]

Kevin you recommend 400w's for a tank 24" deep or less?

 

[kevinpo]

Kevin you recommend 400w's for a tank 24" deep or less?

For over 21" with high light SPS corals I do with the lights mounted 9-12" from the water. A standard 75 gallon is 21" and for that I recommend 250W bulbs driven by an HQI ballast or lower the bulbs to 6" from the water. Coral and bulb placement has a profound effect on light intensity because of the inverse square law. Check out the link below for those of you that want a good explanation of it.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/isq.html

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Scooterman]

I understand the inverse square law but what I was getting at, these recommendations must come from your experiences right, seeing how your corals grow & what works better. I see so much less lighting & people saying they have great growth with sps, that part is a little un-clear what people consider good growth I guess.

 

[Skimmy]

at barrier reef our display is 24" and we have 4 400w in lumenarc reflectors on that tank (8ft long), we should be pushing over 600 watts each after reflection, all i can say is the sps eat it up and ask for more.

 

[kevinpo]

Yes my recommendations are based on personal experience. I have the rather unique opportunity to see corals I have had for 8-10 years under a wide variety of lighting types because I also have customers that have many different types of tanks and lighting setups. The local club usually meets at someone’s home and it provides me a chance to personally see my corals that have been 1-3 years under much different conditions than I kept them.

Another factor to consider it that there are many SPS corals that are not high light but rather moderate light and even some that are low light. Without a meter it is hard to tell by the eye what really high light is. There is also the issue of growth verses coloration. The light signature of a bulb plays a large role in growth and coloration. The same bulb driven by different ballast can have a different signature. Also the visual appearance of the bulb is not always an indicator of the intensity or where the intensity spikes fall on the color spectrum range. For example you can have a very white appearing bulb that has a large spike in the 420nm color. This often results in pronounced purple in SPS corals where a spike in the 450nm produces blue.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[kevinpo]

Growth rates can vary greatly between different types of SPS corals. I consider good growth in the range between .5" and 1.5" a month.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Jan]

Are they mogul mount or double ended bulbs?

Kevin

they are Mogul

So what are people's favorite ballast & bulb combinations for combined color + growth. I've read that Iwasaki 15K's are one of the only "full spectrum" halides but even with the great PAR that they have, my SPS that are doing the best are on the very top of my rock pile (if not they are deepwater corals).

 

[SueT]

over my 120g I use 2 250w 10k reeflux and am running them on the CoralVue ballast. I am getting great growth and the color is perfect.

 

[kevinpo]

they are Mogul

I would recommend either an HQI or electronic type ballast. You will get more PAR from an HQI ballast but a couple more months bulb life from an electronic ballast.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[stonycorals]

Get lots of fans or a chiller. Also I hope your home will have good ventilation if you have a winter season - humidity can cause expensive problems.

 

[matts125]

I have 2 reeflux 10k 400s on my 110 and soon to be another and I love them. trick is to run them all on timers so they arent all on at once...

Matt

I currently have a 150 gallon tank that is 29 inches tall and have 400 watt coralvue reeflux 10k bulbs over the tank. I like the look of the bulbs and the corals seem to be doing very well with the amount of light at all depths of the tank.

Part of the deal in getting a new house was that I finally could buy a tank brand new instead of buying used all the time. I ended up buying a 120 gallon Oceanic Tech series with the Starphire glass. Can't wait to set it up however, I am concerned that the 400 watt halides might be too much for my sps. Does anyone have any thoughts that could shed some light? NO PUN Intended. I figured acclimation is a guaranteed. What are you running on a 24" deep tank?

As always thanks for the great advice.

 

[Frankie]

I am a little confused. I thought 400 watt's over a 120 would be to much. I currently have 2x175 watt 10k XM's and want to add a 1x250 watt 14k in the enter of them. I was thinking reeflux with a magnetic ballast by vue. This one: http://www.reefexotics.com/lumenarc_retro.htm Or would i be better off replacing the 175's with two 400 watt. ? I also have 4x t5 actinic over this tank.

 

[DonW]

I am a little confused. I thought 400 watt's over a 120 would be to much. I currently have 2x175 watt 10k XM's and want to add a 1x250 watt 14k in the enter of them. I was thinking reeflux with a magnetic ballast by vue. This one: http://www.reefexotics.com/lumenarc_retro.htm Or would i be better off replacing the 175's with two 400 watt. ? I also have 4x t5 actinic over this tank.

Depends on how deep the tank is and how high the lights are mounted.

Don

 

[SueT]

I don't think 400'ers would be too much, but it's kind of how to keep the tank cool. I like my 250w but one summer did try the old 400w 65k iwasaki's. They rocked but the heat they put off was unbelievable.