250 MH enough for 30 inch deep tank??

Ruth · #1 01-26-2006, 02:58 PM

I run 400W on both of my larger tanks (30" and 29"). When DE bulbs first came out the claim was that they were more powerful than SE bulbs but everything that I have read lately does not support this - now if I could just find where I read it. If anyone has anything supporting the DE vs SE I would be interested in reading it.

Willito · #2 01-26-2006, 03:06 PM

It's all about the type ballasts and the reflectors folks. BTW my clams are doing fine on my sandbed, which is about 30" from the surface.(250W DE). I also have another clam sitting half way up the tank that is doing just as good as the one below. Both are maxima's and maintain very similar color intensity and growth rate.

digital-audiophile · #3 01-26-2006, 03:57 PM

FWIW I have a 250 watt SE over my 24" deep tank. It's only been on there a week so I don't have long term examples but the corals I have transfered over from my small tank seem to be doing really well. They seem much happier healthier and plump than when they were 3-4 inches below 96W PC in my 10G.

OCDP · #4 01-26-2006, 04:19 PM

Eeeeek.. with that kind of light upgrade your corals are going to suffer! Did you acclimate them to the new lights Greg?

digital-audiophile · #5 01-26-2006, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OCDP

Eeeeek.. with that kind of light upgrade your corals are going to suffer! Did you acclimate them to the new lights Greg?

LOL! It's all good, Since I moved the corals over on the weekend I've been running them under 4 hours of 56Watts of Actinic daily and started with 1 hour MH and have been adding 20 minutes a day of MH since.

OCDP · #6 01-26-2006, 06:34 PM

Ahhh okay, well that makes sense if the light has been up for a week you would have noticed some decline by now

Just thought I'd mention it in case one day you notice your corals all turning white ! heh