metal halides???
- Thread starter viruzjk
- Start date
Well, of course the 3 400's would be better, but there are other things to consider by going bigger on light.. distance to mount above tank, heat, power bill to name a few.
The difference in price of electricity consumed between 3 250w and 3 400w per month would roughly be:
3 x (.400kw -.250kw) x total # of hours they will be run per day x 30 days x cost per kwh
For example, if you were to run each of them for 10 hours per day and your electricity costs $0.10 per kwh, the cost difference looks like:
3 x (.400kw - .250kw) x 10 hours x 30 days x $0.10 per kwh = $13.50 per month
That's truly a rough estimate, but someplace to start. Actual electrical consumption can vary from ballast to ballast and none of them are 100% efficient.
3 x (.400kw -.250kw) x total # of hours they will be run per day x 30 days x cost per kwh
For example, if you were to run each of them for 10 hours per day and your electricity costs $0.10 per kwh, the cost difference looks like:
3 x (.400kw - .250kw) x 10 hours x 30 days x $0.10 per kwh = $13.50 per month
That's truly a rough estimate, but someplace to start. Actual electrical consumption can vary from ballast to ballast and none of them are 100% efficient.
I have a 150 and I am running 2-400 watt mh. When I change tanks here in about a month. I am going to 3-250 watt hallides. The 400 watt mh limit you to only very high light corals in a 150 tank. IMO
What I would do is look for some good 250w bulb/ballast combinations that can approximate some 400w bulbs (there are some out there). Additionally, get those choices together and then look for some tanks that use them to choose which one looks best to you. You can save a lot of money that way. A lot of people use, for example, 175w Iwasaki 15k bulbs in place of 250w bulbs, since this lower wattage bulb has more
PAR that popular 250w ones.
PAR that popular 250w ones.
you can keep anything with 400s and you can also keep anything with 250s. But both semi-limit you to where you can keep things. You can definatly keep lower lighting corals with 400s, ESPECIALLY in a tank that big. I would keep softies, mushrooms, and even a few leathers in my 40 breeder (only 16 inches deep... 14 including sandbed) right off to the side under a 400 watt halide and t5s. You jsut have to acclimate your corals. ANd trust me, once acclimated, most of them will look much better under the much higher lighting. ANd if not, you always have sides and a very deep tank to put things in. As far as higher lighting corals, it really depends. The 400s will make different types of sps look much better too, especially if you run the 20K bulbs. But if you dont plan on keeping a lot, if any, then the 250s would be perfectly fine, as you woudl still have the option of keeping them and haveing them do well as long as they are higher up.