175 or 250 SE for Zoo and Ric tank

[smp]

I'm worried that if i run a 250 I will have to keep everything on the bottom. I have a hood over a 29 gallon, the hood is 9" tall so the bulb will be about 7 to 8 inches above the water.
There is about 16" of water in the tank.

I am afraid that if I run a 250 any rics and yuma that I put in the tank might not like all the light. I would like to keep leather and zoos at the top. Rics, Zoos and Yuma along the bottom.

Probably getting a 15 or 20k bulb and it's going to be SE.
How much difference is there really?

I know people are going to say 250! 250! 250! HQI! HQI!
But, I know I've seen a lot of very nice tanks with 175s and even flourescent (VHO, PC etc).
Heat and energy consumption are a big issue for me.

Thanks!

[Brian Koyama]

I have dual PFO 250w 10k SE bulbs over my zoo's and rics. They are about 8" from the lights and open up alot. I just was careful to acclimate them to the light (I switched from dual VHO 110w, to the dual 250w MH).

[Don Berry]

If heat and energy are concerns go with the 175. If you have a good reflector you will have plenty of light for what your keeping.

[BS]

I'm using 130w PC's on my 29 and the zoa's do just fine under them. I have 150 HQI on my 125 and don't see much difference with the zoa's in there :confused: the only reason I installed the HQI's is I had the money to buy them and the tank is in the dining room and it just looks better....don't know if it works better for my zoa's

[smp]

I just find that my zoos don't look as crisp under PC lighting. I brought a colony home from a reef store here the other day and they looked amazing under the halides at the store. Now they are high up in my tank under 185 watts of PC (65 of that actinic) and they look a lot duller and less attractive.
I think I'm just going to get the 250 because it has the most flexibility in terms of keeping it for a system upgrade or what have you.

[AngelReefer]

I would say 175

[MUCHO REEF]

Brian Koyama, have you experienced any heat issues with your dual 250's on a 60 gallon at all?

Mucho

[cowcio]

I have a 29 gallon with 110 Watts PCs and 250 watt MHs. The setup works fine. Make sure you acclimate new zoas with a lower light. Heat is not a problem in my system...