I picked up the majority of my lights today. 250W galexy ballast and a lumenmax 3 reflector. No bulb yet. I'm thinking of running it with a geisseman 13k bulb. I actually like that "shallow water" look. I'm thinking of painting the back white and running a very shallow sand bed *gasp sand!* lol.
I've grown into really liking the look of white glass from working at the store. It makes it much easier to clean because you see everything right away and it'll help keep the temperature down (vs black glass getting hot under the lights).
I think my current 150W aquaconnect is a little too blue for my tastes. I had a 150W geisseman before and man was it bright!
If I need to I can add t5 actinics down the road but I'd have plenty of par from a 250W 10k even if it's an electronic ballast.
so yeah, 250W halide for an 18" tall tank woot!
