175 MH enough for 150 gallon?

[rich99rich]

I'm transferring everything from my 90 gallon to a 150 gallon. My question is whether 2x175 watt metal halides are enough for a tank that includes SPS corals. I also have 4x96 PCs that I can use. The tank is 6 feet long, 20 inches high, and 24 inches wide.

Any advice is very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[eddiem]

Depending on where your lights are placed, you are going to have some areas that don't get much light. For a 6' tank I would recommend at least 3 MH bulbs.

I have a 60" tank with 2 MH and both of my ends barely get light. I don't bother to put anything near the ends.

As far as having 175's. That is also what I have ...and although everything grows fine, I don't get the coloration that others get with 250's or 400's. Once of my favorite Acros has faded from Baby Blue to green w/blue tips. I plan on upgrading to 250's in the near future. Last months TOTM had 175's and his tank looked great, so I guess it depends on the placement. If your going to upgrade I would definately recommend 3 250's.

Another thing to consider is how many braces you have. Most 6' tanks have 2....which works great for 3 bulbs. If you have 3 braces..I would recommend 4 bulbs. I wouldn't put any bulbs directly over a brace.

[kozmo02]

i just bought a 180, 6ft, by 2 ft, by 2 ft. that im putting 4x400 watters on, i would at least go 250's if i was you, cuz you will probably regret getting weaker bulbs as time goes on.

[areeferitis1]

Ideally I would put 175 watt halides every to 2 foot. You can still use the 4 96w pc's. You could create a dawn to dusk effect with those. Change bulbs 2 to 2 ratio (2 white and 2 blue). Cycle up in am, and down in pm. I have done this with VHO and PC's. Nice effect and looks great.

Or stagger your lights like this if you do not want to purchase another halide unit: pc halide pc, pc halide pc. Hope this helps.

[Ironreef]

Was the sps in the 90g with the same lighting? Was it looking good and how deep was the 90g? If the height is the same it should be the same. But I would add another light to make up for the extra length. I would go with at least a 250w and just keep what you have. The Only way I would get more lighting is if it was a sps tank. all 175w would be plenty if it was a softie tank.

[lllosingit]

I have a 125 that is 6' long by 22" deep. I have 3x175 watt 10k and 2x95 VHO 03 actinics I have them set so the VHO come on at 10am the the then the left mh at 11, middle at 12 and the right side at 1pm,
I tried to run with just 2 Mh but there just wasn't enough light to spread around.
I do have some SPS frags but they have only been in the tank for a month, Even though they are placed on the sand I have steady growth.
I thought about going to 3x250 but wanted to avoid having to run a chiller.