If you could get a free 400W MH setup

[Nolimdien]

What would you use it for?

I can get a few complete MH set ups for free from a friend and I haven't decided what I'd like to use them for.

I was thinking of setting up a propagation system in my garage and have a few frag tanks in there. I could use the lights for them but I wasn't planning on keeping any high lighting corals.
For my prop tanks I was going to just do things like acans, ricordia, mushrooms, zoanthids and possibly some other faster growing LPS. Would 400W MH lights be too much for these? I planned on using shallow tanks (less than a foot deep) but I could always raise the lights higher but that would be wasting a lot of electricity.

So, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?

[downhillbiker]

if you want to prop those type of corals the 400w halides are definitely to much. many of those corals will handle the light, but prefer a little less light. besides they will be very inefficient, especially for those corals. i would go for SPS, if you are going to run them and spend the electricity, chock the tank full of SPS, the more expensive the better.

you could use them for herbal growth, or use them for trading with others for another type of light, like t5 that would be better suited for the type of corals you want to keep.

[Nolimdien]

I didn't think about trading them, that's a thought. I suppose I should just get some good SPS and grow them while I have the lighting though. I'm not too fond of the SPS look but I haven't owned any before. I could probably make some good money/trades assuming I can keep them alive!

[widmer]

The 400w lamp can be as much or as little light as you need; it's all in how far you suspend it from the aquarium/for how much area it illuminates. As far as plans for farming corals go, unless you have a mature system that's running at maximum efficiency, it will only be worth as much as you enjoy it (don't count on it for any sort of profit).

I believe that for the most part, the only worthwhile propagation system is when corals outgrow your display tank.

[Nolimdien]

I'm not looking to make a profit out of my propagating (at least not at this point where I haven't done much of it), I just want to grow pretty corals.

The prop tanks I plan to get are round about 3 feet or so and I'd say about 10 inches deep.

[returnofsid]

Heck, you could use this lighting for soft corals....as long as you hang them about 3 feet above the tank. Not very energy efficient though. I wouldn't get the 400watt lighting, unless you plan on getting into SPS, which can be quite addictive...or are willing to trade it for some other equipment or something