Quick newbie lighting question..

[LazyD]

Hey all, I have an 85 gallon bowfront, I currently have an Oddysea 260 Watt PC fixture, I would like to keep anemone of some sort and also some corals that are considered "high light". Right now I have roughly around 3 watts per gallon of light, I have been looking into getting a MH fixture, I do however have a few questions.

1. When they say dual 175 Watt ballast, does that mean, two (2) 175 watt bulbs?

2. When figuring out the total wattage for a fixture do you add in the wattage of the PC, VHO etc. Actenics, like (2) 175 Watt MH = 350 + (2) 96 Watt Pcs = 542 total watts or do you just calculate the MH wattage?

3. Ive heard that T5s or T5 HOs are better then PCs, would that be another good option for lighting over MHs? Are they generally more or less expensive?

 

[_K_E_P_]

1. Dual 175W means that it has 2x 175W ballasts in it so supports 2x175W bulbs

2. Correct, but that 175W figure is the wattage they output not what they use in total, so generally it will be a little higher.

3. Metal Halide > T5 > PC. T5's are cheaper than halides but will not give you anywhere near the effect.

That 2x 175W MH ballast sounds good for your tank, easily grow whatever you want with that. Depending on the bulbs you chose you may want to supplement your MH with a couple of actinic T5's.

Eg
2x 175W 20K (blue)
2x 175W 14K (Hint of Blue)
2x 175W 10K (white) with 2x Blue actinics