vermonter310
Aquarium Advice Activist
Okay, I've been reading about lighting for weeks now.....and I am now more confused than I was when I started. As I research corals I find most sites rate them on how much light they need, except they only say low , medium or high lighting requirements(or combinations. ie. low to medium). WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ??? Ahhhhhh.........Drives me crazy. Most people seem to recommend Metal Halide lighting. Usually one or two 175 watt or 250's. so my question and one i can't seem to get an answer to is what is the difference in say 350 watts of metal halide and 350 watts of VHO or power compact. As it relates to the corals that is. I am aware they provide different looking light. This all started as a FOWLR and now that I've been researching I 'm sure I'll want some corals and inverts, probably would like a clam as well. As I'm sure is the same as most I don't have a bottomless wallet. I am very seriously considering a 440 watt 4-48" tube VHO kit from Hellolights.com ($161.00)and building my own canopy. I'm not crazy about metal halides because of the cost heat and space the take up and the (need ?) to add additional NO or VHO actinic lighting so I've been leaning toward VHO. This will be over a standard All-glass 75 (or a 55 if I can't convince the wife the 75's the way to go.) So to boil things down, how many watts of VHO are required for corals with "high" lighting requirments or is VHO just not enough ?
Thanks
Thanks