175W enough for SPS?

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

How about 175 over 15" J? I guess what I'm asking here is will I get good growth and colour from 2 T5HOs (though they'll be 60/40 actinic and a Fiji Purple) and a 10K XM with a PFO electronic ballast?

At least, this is tentatively what I've decided I want... It'll probably all change, who knows maybe I'll go with all T5HO in the end... that's like 200 W of T5 over a 24" long tank, if I go with 8 bulbs and I end up using the 20 gallon after all, making it 25 W less than the proposed metal halide and fluorescent combo. I'm not sure if that translates to 25 W less light, or less power consumed though...

Are you sure its a 20G tall?? I thought a 20G regular was 24x12x16...

Anyways, I had a 175W MH over my 20G (regular) and I had great Monti growth, as well as good growth on digitata, birdsnest... never kept the tank long enough for acroporas...

I doubt you will fit 8 bulbs over a 20G... 8 bulbs generally spreads to 24x24.. You'd be hard pressed to fit a 6 bulb unit over it..