yet another MH question

From the link you posted hottielover14 i think the aqualine 10000K or the XM 10000K look the best, you can realy see all the colors... the other ones seem to blue for me.

 

I understand but taking what you write literally can be interpreted differently. Saying 'not recommended' without explanation or 'no such thing as too much light' can be misleading.

 

i'm sorry....my bad. I like blue effect personally but thats just me. the corals that i'm gonna get are gonna look awsome in my tank. The same with yours m_lacom99. what kind of corals are u gonna get, now when u get your new lighting.

 

so if i go with 10000K will i need to keep my actinic's???

 

yes u will, thats the color of light that corals prefer because thats the color of the light spectrum that corals use in the ocean. only blue light penetrates that deep.

 

Jeez.. I hate to do this again..

[quote author=m_lacom99 link=board=lighting;num=1099320951;start=15#23 date=11/01/04 at 11:45:31]so if i go with 10000K will i need to keep my actinic's???[/quote]

Actually no. It's not required. 10k bulbs have enough  blue in them if you look at light analysis graphs. Even 6500k don't need actinics for corals to grow. I've had a 10k pendant over my tank (20 hex, then 20 long) for a couple years now without actinics. On the 'my reef' page I had the same 150w 10k halide over my 30 long for over 3 years with only 2 9watt actinics.

EDIT - OOPS, I MISPOKE HERE. I FORGOT THAT I AM USING A IWASAKI 50k (misnamed actually 13k) Aqua bulb now. I used to use a 10k Ushio bulb on my old tank.

 

Ok... i have no problem with that.. like i said i already have them. So i think i would go with 2 x 175W (maybe 250W, not sure) 10000K MH bulbs. And to answer your question hottielover i would like to keep a wide variaty of corals so i defenetly need to upgrade from what i have. I dont have any specific species but theres allot of them i would like to have.

Ok so i know i want 10000K and ill keep my actinic bulbs the only question left is 175W or 250W?

 

ok Matt.. i dont "need" them but they cant hurt right??? OK if you were me and you had a 55 gallon long (48"Lx14"Wx18"H) what would be your lighting setup???

 

they are recommended because they will make some corals glow and it really looks awesome. i would get the 2x250, u won't regret it.

 

I am very new to MH lights. Matt you said the par of 6500k is extremely high could you or someone explain the "par" of MH bulbs.


thanks much

Peter