Will a 250w SE MH be enough for a 30" deep tank?

[Pike614]

I am upgrading and am not sure if a 250 Watt MH would be enough to reach the bottom of a 30" deep 220g tank....I am not going to have a heavy SPS load, mostly LPS/Zoas/fish....the 250's are looking like an option due to the cost savings in electricity and also heat output....anyone have 250's in their 30" deep tank?
thanks

[JRoweNole]

On your 220 gallon tank, I am assuming at least 2 250W MH's?

I think you would be fine as long as heavy light-loving corals are placed in top half to top one-third of tank. I believe there are others on this board that have similar set-ups.

I have one 250W SE MH on my 24 inch deep 92 gallon tank that has both SPS and LPS corals.

[Pike614]

3 x 250W MH's yeah, and with the sand bed at about 3" It would be about 27" of water depth....

[jrcastro]

It should be fine. You don't want to change over to 400 watters for a few corals that demand light & the electricity is a big difference.

I had a 25" deep tank with 250's & they shined all the way down to the sand.

[Pike614]

great thanks!

[scaryperson27]

You should also be fine posting the subject in only one forum...

[Pike614]

nope, you'd be amazed how some poeple only read one forum!

[mxett]

my 24" deep bb is also great with lumenarc mini's and 250w MH's. No need for 400w's

[Pike614]

I spoke with hellolights and they said I should be fine also with 250's as long as I do not put SPS on the bottom...which I wouldn't anyways! No problem!

[McCrary]

What bulb are you planning to use?

[Pike614]

Not sure at this point, leaning towards the Hamilton 14k, the Coralvue 20k or the Radium.

[McCrary]

Are you looking for a blue light or a white light with a blue tint to it? If you haven't already you might want to check out Sanjay's light research that he did, its pretty cool and can give you some PAR ratings and pictures with and without actinics.

[Pike614]

Yeah, nice resource there....I was going on PAR and the look I like. Too bad that high par bulbs are so orange...I figure a par around 300 should be just fine.