lights for a 150

[Lotharthered]

I have a 150g, its 72x18x27

I am thinking of doing salt, probably fish, LR, SPS with a slight chance at LPS

Should I go with 3x250 MH or 3x400 ?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Flip a coin.

. . .


No, really. . .


Without a far more specific idea of your livestock desires, AND narrowing the question of "250w or 400w" down to a specific bulb, ballast, and reflector combo, it's pretty much an impossible question to answer.

Even within the realm of SPS corals, lighting requirements will vary considerably. In addition, the various bulbs, reflectors, and ballasts within a specific wattage can produce such varying outputs that they really shouldn't be grouped together. There are 250w bulbs that, with the right ballast, will outperform most 400w bulbs.

Still, some general thoughts. These are very wide generalizations.

Strengths of 250w:
-Less power consumtion
-Generally less heat
Weaknesses of 250w:
-Less bulb choice if you want very high output

Strengths of 400w:
-Generally more output, which means you can pick bulbs based on color, not output
Weaknesses of 400w:
-More power.
-Generally more heat

So, if you want to be "unlimited" and don't care about power consumption, get the 400w. Otherwise, the 250w will likely be more than you ever need - but, if you go with 250w, be careful about reflector and ballast choice, to be sure you're getting the most output possible for whatever color of bulb you pick.