lumen bright wide or mini?

[spsfarmer09]

ok i am building a 35x 20 x 18 sps tank and am going to get a lumen bright reflector ,but vant figure out if i need a 250w or 400?

[Phyxius]

at 20 or 18 inches deep you should be fine with 250watt. The reflectors work real well at directing the light down. I run 3 250watt ones on my 210g tank and have no dark spots at all with great light penetration.....

[spsfarmer09]

would i be fine with just one large?

[Phyxius]

I have seen a few people use 1 light over a 36" tank. I think I had read the general thinking on these is one light/reflector for every 2ft of tank space (length or width) works best......

I have three minis in my 6ft canopy also with 2 VHOs for supplementation

There are a few real good lighting experienced people on here so hopefully one of them will add some info.

[Fuzznutz]

Hmmm...well, if you keep your SPS in the middle and have nothing obstructing the light, you may be able to get away with one and maybe so some small T5s to supplement. I have 2 minis over my 90g with 2 T5s to supplement...makes the tank look more even and bright w/the T5s (Giesemann Actinic+) vs just the LBs. I have my bulbs 17" off the waters surface (250w 12k Reeflux SE) and get 200+ PAR in the sand (3-4" bed). At this height, they have about a 24x24 spread. With your tank height, you would have even better PAR with this combo. I've heard the 20k Reeflux are delivering more PAR than the 12k now...gonna try those soon ;)

[psteeleb]

for that size tank I would use minis

a large will direct a lot of light out of the tank unless you have it very close to the water level. The minis are great for directing the light down where the large provide light over a wider spread. IMO a tank under 24 maybe 30" front to back should use minis. over that go with the large ones. the 24-30 depend on how high you plan to mount the reflectors

[spsfarmer09]

so 2 175 watt minis would be good?

[Fuzznutz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15100657#post15100657 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spsfarmer09
so 2 175 watt minis would be good?

For your tank depth, I would think it would be more than enough. I believe the 175s have limited variety though...

[Fuzznutz]

Here's how I did mine...I had to put the IC T5 reflectors over the LBs corners a little to get them in the 18" working space, but it works well. Also, there is about another 4-5" for the bulb sockets that extend out one side incase you did not know this.



http://cmas-md.org/photopost/data/500/rsz_my_canopy_reflectors.jpg


http://cmas-md.org/photopost/data/500/rsz_my_canopy_sunburn.jpg

[spsfarmer09]

what are the dimensions of your tank?

[t4zalews]

wow...nice canopy