75 Gallon Lighting

[Thomalop]

Would two 250 watt MH's be sufficient for a 75 gallon tank?

[sassafrass]

what are the dimensions?

[Thomalop]

Not sure exactly (at work).

It's the dimensions of a standard 75 gallon tank.

[Jandree22]

150 x 2 would be 'sufficient' if we're talking softies, LPS, maybe a few SPS near the top. Go 250W x 2 if you want a focus on higher light requirement critters like SPS or clams. Just keep in mind the extra electicity required to juice up the 250's.

I was a believer that 250W x 2 was the end all, be all of 75g lighting, until I came in here and saw several amazing 75’s with SPS and clams under 150W x 2. Particularly if you want to go with SE mogul bulbs, I hear nothing but great things about the Iwasaki 175w Aqua2 15k bulbs… they’re usually referred to as ‘par monsters’ from what I’ve seen.

[qfrisco]

Yes, 2x250s should work for a 75 - it might be a tad much, but it should work great.

Ditto on the suggestion by Jandree22 to keep in mind the extra electricity, but it really shouldn't be much more. Depending on your power rates, you'll probably spend around $20 more per month to run 2x250w MH compared to comparable T5s.

[Thomalop]

Thank you for the input.