What would you pick? Lighting question

[SquidHC]

Alright, time to upgrade the lighting on one of my tanks. Right now all it has is 240w of PC on it. Im debating to add VHO or MH. I can only afford to add one or the other atm. The tank is 22" deep, and the more I get into the hobby the more I want to add some SPS corals so thats what Im aiming for. Also my wife wants a clam and I need a MH for that also. Will the PC's and MH add enough of a lighting spectrum to support the tanks needs or should I go with the 4 VHO's?

Should I add MH and use the PC's to help suppliment some extra atinic or should I dump the PC's altogether and just add 4 VHO's?

With a 22" deep tank, is 2 175w MH enough or should I go with the 2 250w?

Thanks in advance.

 

[skeeter_ca]

I have 3 175s on my 75 and i'd wish i went with 3 250s. The cost diff would had been small compared to the overall investment. I would suggest no supplemental lighting, just the halides. Go with all 10,000k or 12,000k bulbs and you won't be sorry.

just my .05 cents (inflation you know)

aquadw

 

[SquidHC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9751703#post9751703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aquadw

just my .05 cents (inflation you know)

Got a good laugh outa this =P Thanks for the imput.

 

[Azial]

I am partial to HQI/MH lights myself, you get better intensity per watt with them and ultimately better coloration

 

[SquidHC]

With the MH system, I then wouldnt use any additional lighting?

 

[Nano Chris]

With my MH's i have actnics which show more colors i like it a lot better than just MH's.

 

[am94pm]

We have MH. I'm still fairly new to saltwater so I don't really know enough about the supplemental lighting to give advice on that. I know that with MH, you can do just about anything. I feel it's one of the best investments.

 

[skeeter_ca]

It all depends on the bulbs you pick. If you go with a low kelvin like 5700k or 6500k you might want to use actinic to add alittle blue. Any where between 10000k and 14000k already has some blue with a strong white and actinics are not needed. A 18000k to 20000k is a very blue light. To blue for you (sorry had to make it rhyme). It is all depends on the look you like. A strong white light with a slight blue tint seems to be the most popular. It seems to be the general concensus that intensity is the most important, then spectrum. Make sure you have enought light then chose a color you like.

skeeter