What would YOU do?

[CastleRock]

I am looking for options and ideas on lighting this thing
Tank is an acrylic 96x30x24 it's a 300 wide 3/4 inch acrylic makes up top with 3 very lg holes on the top. I will be keeping SPS, LPS, clam's ect. all high light critters
so if this was yours what would you do to it?
Lets hear your ideas!

[MalHavoc]

Is that 30H or 24H? If it's 24H, I'd probably go with 4x250w MH, and if it's 30H, I'd probably go with 4x400w MH. If you weren't thinking about clams, I'd wouldn't even bother with the 400w bulbs, but the 30H (if that's what it is) might be a bit deep for 250's.

In both of those cases, I'd probably supplement with 2x160w VHO super actinics. 6 foot bulbs, so Id offset them a bit, so they overlap in coverage in the middle 4 feet of the tank.

[CastleRock]

sorry I was not clear yes it is 24" high 30" wide and 96" long
Thanks:)

[MalHavoc]

Then, yes, I'd probably go with the 250w MH bulbs. I think 250w is plenty bright enough to reach the bottom of a 24H tank, and cheaper than running 4x400w.

[CastleRock]

Thanks for the reply:)
lets take this a bit further
types of ballast's, types of lamp mixes or all one type of lamp ect
were looking for great growth and color
lets hear some more ideas! :)

[CastleRock]

I need your thoughts and ideas folks! I would like to start ordering my lighting! HELPPPPPPPPP :D

TTT

[mjh]

I have a 200g that is 76Lx27Hx24W. Running 3x250w PFOs w/Ushio bulbs and 2x72"vho actinics on a Icecap 660. Have mix of clams, SPS, Softies and LPS. Now hood is 12" so bulbs are about 9" off water. And my SPS are about 16" from the bulb, they are doing ok but not thriving like they were in MtnDewMan's tank. Also I am not getting the vivid greens, so I am thinking about adding another IC 660 and playing with 2 more actinics or 1 actinic & a full spectrum. If you really want to go SPS I might upgrade to a 400w MH or make sure your SPS are very close to surface.

[CastleRock]

Thanks you two:) yea Im thinking 4 400w MH over it, a mix of 2 and 2 of diff bulbs but not sure what will give me the best growth and color not sure what bulbs to go with but im thinking PFO ballasts

[CastleRock]

This is my thinking
20k then 65k then 20k then 65k
I am thinking something along the lines of mustangs tank setup
how do you think this would look?