need some lighting advise for my 55 gallon

[bigfishtoo]

My light is vho with three 110 watt bulbs and I have these corals,
bubble coral
candy cane coral
frogspawn
zoanthids
mushrooms
green star polyps
leather coral
fish and shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, star fish, feather dusters, live rock

I just get confused on total watts, like if you use 2x150 halide plus 2x130 = 560 watts or is it 2x150 plus 2x130 = 280 watts being total used.
Please help shed some light, so I can buy the right set up for my corals the first time.
I would like to use two pendant lights if possible or one. thanks....

 

[lando]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com!!!
Lighting can be confussing. The best thing to keep in mind is that not all watts are created equal. By this I mean the TYPE of lighting is just as important as the wattage of light. For example...100watts of CF light is not going to be as intense as 100watts of MH light. MH comes from a single point or origan and will penetrate the water much better then a tube of CF light. Think of it as more concentrated. This is what makes the "watts/gal" rule for lighting so bad. There are too many variables such as the type of light and the animals you wish to keep.

for figuring total watts you simply add up what you have. I have a fixture with 2x175watt MH and 2x96watt CF for a total of 542watts.

the 330watts of VHO lighting is very good for the corals you have.