[Psycho graphic]

I searched around and was unable to get an answer to the following.

Does the color rating have an active role in the growth and health of corals or is it just how it looks to us? My tank will be a 40 breeder and the contents will be mostly softies, primarily Zoas and Rics, possibly a few LPS corals and if I get brave I would like to have a Monti Cap. I will be going with a 250 DE bulb setup I also can supplement it with 2 96w PC's one is 10k and one is actinic, would I be better with 2 actinics?. So do I want a 10, 14 or 20k bulb?

	PC Power Compact Lighting, typically used in lower light aquariums supporting soft corals, LPS, and fish. Their low cost and cooler operating temperatures are an excellent choice for beginner aquariums and smaller tanks.

	LPS Large Polyped Stony corals – In the aquarium hobby this is a common division of the species of stony corals based upon the visual assessment of the size of the polyps. Corals in this category were among the first stony corals to be kept successfully in captivity and include many very beautiful species. Commonly kept Genera include Euphyllia (hammer/frogspawn coral), Favia (brain coral), Plerogyra (bubble coral), Lobophyllia (meat/tooth coral), and Caulastrea (candycane coral). LPS corals also include the popular solitary non-colonial stony corals such as Fungia (plate coral), Cynarina (button coral), Trachyphyllia (open brain coral), and Herpolitha (tongue coral). Like their SPS counterparts, LPS corals require good water quality, intense lighting of the appropriate spectrum, adequate water movement and regular supplementation of calcium.

10 K will give you the best out of the 3 you listed ,14k and 20k are more in th blue tint ,,note all brands will fire up diff ,,and diff ballast will fire it up dif as well


If you wnt the growth ,go for the 10k if you are looking for blue color go with 20k

hope that helps

[Psycho graphic]

Yes it does and thank you.

[House of Laughter]

Dave,

Take a look at the tank thread I just put up or the one Jhale just put up in the Photography forum,

I have great growth and use the Pheonix 14k bulb with Blue Wave III hqi ballasts - and did I mention I HAVE NO ACTINIC SUPPLEMENTATION?

I swear by this bulb ballast combo and recommend it for any tank - with a zoo tank and possible a few stonies (SPS) you should be fine with the 14k.

House

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[herman]

6.5K = maximum growth (yellow color - need actinics)
10K = great growth (whiteish color - need actinics)
14k = good growth, nice blue color ( no need actinic supplementation)
20k = blue, slower growth (no need actinic supplementation)

[Chris5]

I have a HQI 20k by AB bulbs and I love the crystal white/blueish tint coloration...as far as growth I couldnt say bc this is my first MH setup and only had it a month or so.....Ive also heard good things about 14-15ks which maybe my next bulb, looking into the phoenix brand...

	MH Metal Halide Lighting, typically used for high intensity light demanding corals such as SPS. Bulbs come in varieties of spectrums (7k, 10k,20k), and intensity (175W, 250W, 400W).

[jackson6745]

A 14k with one actinic PC an one white will look very nice. If you decide to go with 10k use 2 actinics. Since you have a small tank I would actually consider the AB 20k. The color of this bulb is awesome.

	PC Power Compact Lighting, typically used in lower light aquariums supporting soft corals, LPS, and fish. Their low cost and cooler operating temperatures are an excellent choice for beginner aquariums and smaller tanks.

[scarf_ace1981]

i have used:

SE 20k xm w/ advance ballast-too blue
SE 15k sm w/ pfo ballast-not as blue but still blue
DE 10k ?? w/ pfo ballast- yellow
and currently using DE 14k phoenix w/ pfo ballast-nice crips white w/ slight hint of blue
as recommended by house(thanks). my favorite so far.

as mentioned before, the ballast is very important. which one will you be using?

[Psycho graphic]

Ballast is a PFO, the fixture is for a DE bulb.

[Psycho graphic]

I got everything together last night and temporarily setup the light up to see how it looked using a borrowed 10k bulb. Even with my 96w actinic PC as a supplement, it was WAY to yellow. To get the closest look to my current PC combo of one 96w 10k and one 96w actinic, do i want a 14k or a 20k bulb?

	PC Power Compact Lighting, typically used in lower light aquariums supporting soft corals, LPS, and fish. Their low cost and cooler operating temperatures are an excellent choice for beginner aquariums and smaller tanks.