High Tide Aquatics

Upgrade 150s to 250s or add reefbrite?

Coral reefer

Past President
So I currently have a coralife aqualight 2x150 that I've been running over my 4x2x2 120. Until recently I've had only softies and lps which have done well, but the sps bug had bitten...
First a Monti, then a birdsnest, a couple stags, another acro, or two... So anyways, I want mire lighting! I've been planning on upgrading the mh to 250s from the current 150s, but I was wondering if people think it would be more worth it to keep what I have and add a strip of white reefbrites? I'm thinking I'd get more light with the 250s than the 150s with a reefbrite strip, but I was wondering what others thought? What about two strips?
 
Jess, you are now doing a full blown Reefbrite system now? Did you have an updated photo yet? =)

The most common MH for a 4x2x2 (it's what I have) are 2 x 250 MH. Depending on your reflectors, you should double check if your canopy has enough height to mount the proper mounting height.

I have 2 x 250w MH plus one Reefbrite. It's enough for me for now, but 2 Reefbrites will be really strong supplementation. IMO the blue reefbrites supplement the color of the rocks, corals, and maybe fish, but doesn't really change the color of the entire tank/water per se. The color of the entire tank/water depends mostly on your MH bulbs.
 
I run 2X250w on my 5X2X2 it's plenty with the right reflectors, I run Lumenarc minis and love them.

In the future I'll be using LED supplements, currently though there is no supplementation.
 
The tank I am setting up right now is a 4x2x2 with 2x250w in LA minis with dual 48" RB's.
 
I am already wanting to add one or more likely two 48" actinic reefbrites, but it sounds like people think upgrading to 250s is better than adding a strip of white reef brites. My next question is has anyone upgraded the coralife aqualight pro 2x150 to 250s? I'm assuming switching the external ballasts will be easy, but the bulb holders (not sure what toncall them with hqi, not exactly a socket...) are probably too small....
 
Not worth it IMO, the reflectors suck big time, you're better off scrapping the Aqualight and going with quality reflectors, especially if you are considering using a higher kelvin bulb.
 
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