lighting for 240g

[onefast99cobra]

just purchased a 240 gallon tank thats 31 inches tall, i was told to do 3 400 watt MH's. What do you guys think. I'm going to build a canopy that hangs above the tank and fit it with 3 retrofits, any comments or suggestions.

[TheCoralNabber]

What is the length of the tank? I'd go with Lumenarc III's for your reflectors. They are pretty sweet from what I've seen, and very bright, which is what you will need for the depth of the tank. I've seen a 250W lumenarc between two 400W DE and it absolutely blew them away. You might even be able to get away with 250W instead of 400, and run VHOs. I know that one of the sponsors sells them.

Dan
ohh and
[welcome]

[leeweber85]

I don't know much about lighting but I've heard that 250w HQI (DE) are about the same as 400w. And looking at the electric consumption.... i would favor the 250w.

400wX3 running 12hrs a day at $.12KWH =$52.56 a month
250wX3 running 12hrs a day at $.12KWH =$32.85 a month

[TheCoralNabber]

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=560167 If you look at the bottom of this thread you will see a 400W SE with lumenarc compared to two 250W DE, and the 400W is alot brighter imo then the two DE.