150 or 250W DE for 20" water depth?
 

I am still unsure of how much light I am going to need. 60" tank length, 24" wide, and 20" water depth. Would 2 250W be enough? Weighing options here. I like a canopyless tank, but lighting is more expensive. I am considering a Coralife Aqualight Pro 48" light. 2 95W PC, and 2 250W DE. But tank is 5', light is 4'. Would it be enough? So many choices, but not enough money

A 5' long tank is tricky to light. Personally, I would look at a lighting system with 2 x 250w SE going lengthwise to give the most coverage. DE lights are more focused & don't have good spread compared to SE.

I have a 4' & 6' Aqualight Pro & love the all-in-ones, but they are over a 4' and 6' tank, respectively.

At 20" deep, you could get away with lower wattage but not sure if you're going sps or what?

Anthony

Interesting on the spread of DE/SE. I was wondering that. And as far as SPS and such, when I built my first tank, it was strictly a FOWLR, now it has Monti's, Clams, etc. I wouldn't mind a couple birdsnest and the easier to keep SPS in the new tank, but not ready fro the "finicky" ones yet.

So, with the SE, you are meaning running the bulbs lengthwise with the tank?

Yes, I run 2 x 250W SE over my six-footer and no one ever seems to notice.

I have the Giesemann Moonlight Infiniti 48" 2x250w DE HQI + 4X54W T5 HO my tank dimension 160 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm and the fixture is suspended 18” above and everything is happy

on my 60 in tank I have 2x250 and 1x400 mh and 4x65 watt compac attinics but mine is a little bit deeper (25 in)

You need 1 MH per 4 square feet(2'X2'). You are close enough to get away with 2, but make them the 250W(for 150W, I would go with 3) and hang it off the ceiling a little higher.(the reason you need 250W)

What kind of corals, anemones, and clams do you plan to keep? It's impossible to suggest lighting otherwise. :)

if i were buying a MH fixture that compares to the coralife this would be my choice:

http://www.current-usa.com/outerorbithqit5ho.html

personally i think that power compacts are out dated and you will get way better results supplimenting with the t5's. This is actually the fixture i considered for myself

To be honest, I don't know. Some SPS, some LPS, some softies. I have a Crocea clam allready, who may be moving into the new tank. I wouold like a Birdsnest or 2, Monti's, couple different colored "sticks" and small Zoa's

If cost is an issue, then try to find a used setup for sure. I agree that SE is probably a better choice for you because it spreads light better, but be careful about the ballast and bulb combination you choose because there are some very poor 250w SE combinations. Another thought would be to use 175w electronic ballasts with Iwasaki 15K SE bulbs, this combo is a "par breaker" and puts out more par than many 250w setups.

20" depth?.....T5

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0001-1.jpg


:mrgreen::mrgreen:

^^ It just does look right without that Frogspawn... :neutral:

How would 2 Lumenmax 3 DE 250W fair? With Electronic ballast, say a galaxy 2x250W?

^ Excellent choice provided you take care to choose bulbs that would perform well on the 250w electronic ballast. The Gieseman 250w DE 13000 and 14,500 K have high output on an electronic ballast. It's a shame the dang bulbs are so expensive. Giesemann's DE perform much better than their SE.

Check Sanjay's lighting guides for other bulb choices. As far as electronic ballasts go they all perform very similar no matter if they are IceCap or Galaxy according to Sanjay's testing.