20L, what watt halide should i use?

[Chad Vossen]

im downgrading to a 20L. currently i have montipora, hammer coral, micro, maze brain, favia, and some other odd corals under 80 watts PC.

after putting my frogspawn into my friends tank, (he uses different lights and diff salt) i noticed the frogspawn opened up 5x more than it ever has in my tank... so, i had him give me 10 gal worth of his salt so i can give it a try, as i wish to see if its my salt, or my lights that are crap (i use reef crystals). anyhow, i would like to upgrade my lights anyway, and was thinking of either a 70 watt or 150 watt halide. i saw an incredible 20L on reef central that only used a 70 watt halide, so i know it can work.

anyone have any thoughts? what brands should i stick to, what ballast should i go with? anyone selling a used 70 or 150 watt halide system?

[David Grigor]

Trying to compare someone else's lights to PCs really isn't a good comparison. The only time i'd use PCs is in a nano situation where simply no other choices available based on size.

Of those two options I'd personally lean towards 150w simply becaause much more widely used with more bulb options available.

[Chris Goetz]

There are some icecap 150w ballasts on RC for $40 shipped...
A good deal, I think.

I also use reef crystals. What salt is your friend using?
Chris

[Chad Vossen]

he is using red sea coral pro.
and i think i may have found a used 150 watt system for 115$, im going to make a new thread to see if its a good buy or if i should look for something else.