lighting

[Ty1e]

is 250watt to much or is 175watt MH better for a 30gal deep tank (20000k)?

[sabbath]

It depends on what you are planing on keeping in the tank. Softies or sps's...is my answer.

[demonsp]

Acutally either light would work great for all corals. But the 250 in an sps tank would be perfect. The softies may want shaded areas.

[bertoni]

A lot depends on the reflector and bulb chosen. A 175 W setup with a good bulb and reflector can easily beat a 250 W setup with a poorer reflector or bulb. How deep is this tank?

[Ty1e]

the tank is 18inches deep, the lamp i was loooking at was the mini pendant system 250watt 20000k+HQI ushio or BLV balb by ice cap @reefgeeks.com, I thought i could build an aluminum mounting arm for the pendant. is there a better bulb or system that would be better for my tank depth and sps coral growing future.

[sho]

18 inch is not too deep yet shallow... haha. I'd go with bigger wattage, 250W. You never know want you want in the future.

I upgraded my lights for like, 4 times... Don't do the mistake I did. waste of money.

[demonsp]

I agree. I always say get this best light you can afford.

[Ty1e]

thanks guys, whats the best brand of bulb to get xm,BVL,ushio that would maximize the 20000k blue light spectrum that i want.

[bertoni]

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

That site has a lot of data on the options available. I'd likely go with a 175 W Iwasaki bulb, since I like the looks and they're very bright, but they aren't anywhere as blue as a lot of the bulbs that are rated 20,000 K.