[JMaxwell]

Hahn,

Your obviously quite interested in lighting and seem to be open to offering opinions, so I was wondering if i could run this by you. I'm currently running a pair of Hamiton 14k SE pendants on M58 balasts. My tank is mixed reef, but 40" tall. Footprint is 54"x24". I am looking to improve my light penetration a bit, but no so much as to run 400W bulbs. I figure I should switch to lumenarc or lumenbright minis, but I am frankly confused by the plethora of MH options. SE or DE? HQI or electronic? From what I gather, the HQI balast runs the bulb at higher output, so that is one way I could go higher output without going all the way to 400W.


Anyway, if you could sum it up, what's best combo in 250W range? You seem to like Geisemman, Ushio and possibly Phoenix bulbs, but what about balasts? PFO HQI? Icecap electronic? what about SE or DE?

This stuff is giving me a headache! help!

Thanks.

JSM