a 96" tank what lighting

[Lance]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

ok, so one problem here.. if you only go with 3 bulbs then you will have to lift them up to around 16" or more to get an even spread across 8 foot.

since you are lifting them the PAR values are going to drop in the tank and you are also thinking of dropping down to 250's . 250 watt is not always a down grade from 400's but with the ballasts you are looking at ya they are. so now you are lowering your PAR even more.

I recomend that you stay with 400's if you want 3, or go to 4 MH if your dropping to 250's on an electronic ballast.

I would personaly go with 4 bulbs either way, but I also like lots of PAR.

Steve

I agree. 3 bulbs/400W 4 bulbs/400W or 250W

[Mrfish55]

My 750 is 8feet long and 5 feet wide, I am only using 2x175w single end in Lumenmax Elite reflectors with 2 6 foot VHO flourescents for supplementation (all about 16" above the surface), I have not checked par but there is no shaded spots and the tank looks pretty well evenly lit, granted it is a FOWLR but there is one anenome in there that is doing well, If I ever switched it to a reef I think I would add a third reflector and bump it to 400w, it all depends on bulb choice and reflector type IMO, I am running 3 400w SE on the 300 reef and the 750 still looks brighter visually, again I do not have a par meter to compare the important numbers.

[Skimmerking]

i have 2 400's over the 5 footer and its 16" and i have overlapping all corals seems happy to me i guess.