Lighting for sps corals

[canadawest]

Deep sandbed or not fishnut? This will ultimately determine the depth of the lowest part of your tank.

If you are going to use a DSB, then I would say a dual 250W MH setup would be your best choice. Iwasaki 6500K lamps, with some VHO or PC or even NO Actinic supplementation has a pleasing appearance, great growth results and is the most inexpensive of the HID lighting choices.

If you are not going to utilize a DSB, then a 24" deep tank would likely require 400W lamps to effectively light bottom dwelling corals or clams. This choice then slightly increases the cost of the ballasts and lamps, as well as creates increased heat and evaporation considerations, not to mention electricity costs.