175 to 250 or 400 mh

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by Tcox807, Apr 28, 2011.

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  1. Tcox807

    Tcox807 Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2010
    Messages:
    197
    I have a 175 ice cap now but I have been wanting to upgrade to 250 or more. My tank is a 56g. I also have 2 95 watt vho's also. What should I do. And ager is the.best ballast bulb combination
     
    Tcox807, Apr 28, 2011
    Tcox807, Apr 28, 2011
    #1

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  2. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2009
    Messages:
    411
    Location:
    Alameda, Ca
    That all depends on what your own preferences are. You can light your tank fine with a 250W. I just started using a Radium bulb, and it looks great using a HQI/M80 ballast. If you can find a used Bluewave 3, or you can buy a Hamilton, or Aquamedic HQI ballast new.
     
    BTowned, Apr 28, 2011
    BTowned, Apr 28, 2011
    #2
  3. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2005
    Messages:
    1,451
    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    In my last build I had the Galaxy dimmable ballast that allows you to set it to any of the three wattages. I'd recommend going with that ballast. That way you can start with 250W and move up to 400W if you want (or vice versa). Personally I think that 400W is overkill for the most part.

    I'm right with BT on the bulb, the Radium 20k is awesome.
     
    rocketmandb, Apr 28, 2011
    rocketmandb, Apr 28, 2011
    #3