[JLAudio]

I recently sold off my 110 tank and upgraded to a 125 with the plan to make it a 125 fowlr, with option to reef it up if I desire.

However, I want to keep my bill down so I can keep my new landlords off my A$% being the fact they dont know yet how big my tank is (I told them I have a fish tank, but there probably picturing a betta bowl or something. However, I still want a nice look for the fish and maybe even some real lowlight corals.

I figured at roughly 13 cents a kilowatt (saw this online), a 300 watt light for 8 hrs. a day will cost`btwn 9 and 10 dollars a month. The rest up my pumps and equipment will run me around $25 w/ that formula, not that bad at $35 total

My thoughts as of now:
(2) VHO 72" retrofit lights comes 2 roughly 320 watts (160 x 2), I really like the look, but dont want to run chiller and they get hot

T5 lighting: However al the 72 inch models run the watts up to near 500 watts, or maybe do a retrofit with like 4 bulbs, but not sure if it wil be strong enough

Power compact: Most 72" run (4) 96 watt bulbs, which comes to 385 watts or so

MH: Then it dawned on me, what if I run two MH 150 14k pendants. Only 300 watts and wont need actinics if i get a nice blue phoneix or ushio.

Regular flourescent: low watts, crappy look, NO WAY!

Any thought?

	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).

	VHO Very High Output Fluorescent Lighting - Fluorescent bulbs that run on special ballasts and have an output that is significantly higher than normal tubes. It is very possible to run an entire reef system on VHO lighting providing the proper number of bulbs and mixture of spectrums are chosen. For most hobbyists, these tubes are used in conjunction with Metal Halide lighting for simulating dawn and dusk. They often provide the "bluer" end of the light spectrum and thus a more aesthetically appealing display.

[Deanos]

VHOs

[JLAudio]

you think 2 160watt will be enough to keep the tank looking well lit?

[roncgizmo]

If you are basically doing fish only why hot try regular NO bulbs? you can get them cheap
toss two 2x48 shop lights from HD..They also have 6500k bulbs for under 10 bucks for 2
Hell for 50 bucks it might be worth trying.

[ming]

It won't be 13 cent a kw in the end. If its at that price, then there will be delivery charge making it about 19+ cent a kw

[JLAudio]

The tank I have has 4 36 inch regular floourescent strips, just not sure if this will bring out the colors in the fish. Maybe it will, I havent had regular flourescent in a few years

[JLAudio]

That will bring my figures up 25% or so

[roncgizmo]

You can buy NO with color..get two blue 03's to go with the two 6500k

[roncgizmo]

Or you can do a combo T5 HO and T12 NO

[bad coffee]

a 150 DE actually burns more electricity than 150w. you'd be better off getting 2 175's. get two lumnearcs and you'll be able to cover the whole tank, as well.

I'm loving the ushio 14k's. when I swich out my bulbs, I'll be switching to them. And no, I don't have any actinic suplimentation.

B