Two 175w 20Ks & a 400w 14K Overkill?

[reefbabe]

I've been running two 175w MH on my 100g reef. This tank has only been set up for a year (reef 5 months). I came across a warehouse 400w MH lamp for 40 US dollars (about 47 canadian dollars) and couldn't pass it up. I rewired it and added a 400w reef bulb. What I decided to do was make a DYI canopy (175watts were in DYI pendants) and house all three of them...175w on each end and 400w in the middle. Do you think this is overkill? I was thinking about going with acroporas but I'm not sure if I'm ready or not...what do you think?

Also, right as of now, I run my lights about a foot and a half (46cm) above the tank right now so that the corals can get used to the super nova beaming down on them! I also run the 175w 20Ks by themselves for 2 hours, turn the 400w 14K on for 4 and then off again while the 175s run for 2 more hours (8 hours total).

http://www.photochicken.com/ims/pic/86YG2w4/4854.jpg

 

[AquaReefer]

That would give you exactly 7.5 watts per gallon. Which is a very good area to be in. While talking to Robert Fenner, I asked the question "Can you ever have too much lighting?" His response was "I really don't think there is such a thing as too much lighting, because you can never fully replicate the light that the sun gives off. However, you can burn corals, so directing to high of wattage in a small area could be harmful."

In the end, I'd say anything more than 15-20watts per gallon is unneccessary. Also, when adding 400watts, that could be very stressful to your corals and fish. One trick I've heard to acclimate your corals to the increase in lighting is to layer sheets of screening on top of your tank, and each day remove a sheet. This way you are slowly increasing the amount of light the inhabitants of your tank recieve.

Either way, good deal on the light. And your plan of running the lights seems very effective.


Good Luck

 

[cougaran]

You could also run the 2 175 watt for the entire cycle and run the 400 watt for a couple of hours to simulate noon day intensity. But slowly build up to it like maybe adding a few minutes each day.

 

[reefbabe]

Yes, thank you. This is what I am doing at the moment. I really really like the blue look and am quite used to it now. It's kind of hard for me to go back to the more white look (400w makes it whiter and drowns out the blue). I think that eventually I'm going to make the 400w a 20k and use my extra 175w 14K with it.