Best Type of Lighting?

[superswamper]

My wife and I are relatively new to the hobby. We have a 75g FOWLR. The tank came with a single bulb fluorescent light. We are planning on upgrading the lighting for the tank, and were wondering if you guys had any suggestions on improving the lighting. Thanks in advance.

[reefrunner69]

The "best" lighting for a tank will greatly depend on what you plan to keep and your maintenance routine. For example, a 75 FOWLR could do well under a couple of 110W VHOs, provided you kept up with maintenance, the rock would continue to grow coraline etc...but if the water wasn't kept clean...lots of algae would ensue. If you plan on upgrading it to a reef tank, lighting would depend on what type of corals you wanted to keep, for softies, LPS and some SPS 4 X 110W VHO might do well, for clams and SPS you would want MH. with some actinic supplamentation.

[reefrunner69]

BTW... to AquariumAdvice.com!!

[superswamper]

We don't plan on upgrading to a reef tank in the future. I read that a common combination is a double light fixture with one 'full spectrum' fluorescent and one blue actinic bulb. Does anyone have any experience with that type of setup?

[superswamper]

Thanks for the welcome. We're still in the learning process, but want to do what's best for the fish.

[reefrunner69]

IMO, 2 40W bulbs is not going to be enough to keep the LR happy in a 75g tank. If the rock is more of a base rock with no coralline algae or other inverts...then it will do fine to illuminate the tank. Personally I prefer a more blue look to the tank and would go with a 50/50 bulb and an actinic. URI makes some of the best NO and VHO flo bulbs on the market, IMO.

[cleantank]

Welcome, I'm a new kid on the block also, Lots of good info in the forums. Since your new to hobby, I'm sure your reading alot and getting alot of opinions. So here's mine.

Lots of new aquarists,don't have a good plan on where they want to be 1 yr from now,
and equipment for this hobby is expensive, so they buy things that don't give them
options for the future. 2x40watt fixtures, IMO don't provide but minimum lighting. PC
might be a better choice for you at this point. And in the future you can still use it with with any kind of set-up you want.

Cleantank
8)