help with my lights

[i like fish]

so yeah, i didnt get many replys in the getting started section, and i didnt with a different post in there, so ill post in here too just in case
ok, so im lost in the world of lights, can i get some help. ive been doing a lot of reading and so far ivce come to this conclusion, i have no idea what the use of any of these lighting porducts are, like vho, metal halide, actinic, flourescent, etc, what light does what, and why are the diff types nessecary for reef tanks, or what types are good for healthy corals and fish alike? thanks for all the help.

 

[Clown Monarch]

Actinic enhances color. Some of my corals look incredible under actinic light. MH is a compact way to get a lot of light in not alot of space with drawbacks like heat and shorter bulb life than PC.

 

[steve-s]

The lights you may need will be dependant on the types of photosynthetic animals you will wish to keep. How many/much will depend on tank size and depth.

In general terms, high output fluorescents (PC, VHO, T5HO) will support a wide variety of corals including soft, LPS and a few select lower light SPS if enough intensity.

If the tank is especially deep or the sessile invert preference was primarily SPS and clams, you'd be looking at MH or and MH w/actinic fluor combo. MH is effective in a 2'x2' area so tank length as well as depth must be considered including the height the lights will be suspended, generally 8-12" above the water line. For most tanks 250w MH (upto 36") is usually sufficient but shallower depths can use 175w (upto 24") and deeper tanks may require 400w (upto 48" or more).

Decide on what you want to keep in the tank and then the lighting needs would be much easier to decide on along with the tank dimensions.

Cheers
Steve