Help with lights?

[OrangeKoi]

Ok, I'm curious. There's a lot of talk about lights. Right.

Well, I have an itch to know how much the electric bill is affected by these lights. I feel I must be respobnsible to my family in my choice as well as to my own desires.

For instance, what would be the difference between using a power compact and MH. The tank is a 30 gallon cube so I can use only up to 20 inch lighths. I was thinking between a 150 or 250 watts on the mh. Is anyone in the know about the difference between those two as well? I'd hate to plug in the 150 watt MH then have my dh go looking for the power sucking light switch. Anyone?

 

[seapug]

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[seapug]

its a simple matter of watts used to power them. Two 75 watt PCs will use the same amount of electricity as one 150 watt MH. The only difference is that you'll get much higher light output and different character of light from the 150 watts of MH-- you basically get more "bang for your buck" in terms of the light generated from the same amount of wattage. If you have 100 watts on your tank right now and upgrade to 150 watt MH or PC, it will use 30% more electricity either way. On that note 150 watts of MH is plenty for a 30 gallon tank, and you may not need that (or want it) depending on what you keep. Mushrooms will bleach under that light without shade (speaking from experience). The heat from a 250 would turn it into soup without a chiller, and those cost as much as lights to operate.