Questions about lighting

[vder1]

I would like to upgrade my lighting on the tank. I have an Oceanic 135 and the matching hood. Currently it has 4*96 watt pc lights. 2 daylight 10000 k and 2 actinic.

Would like to keep SPS and clams down the road .

Several options I have

1. Go with 8 pc lights 96 watts (my LFS says this is the way to go no need for Metal Halide)

2. Go with 2 Metal Halide lamps not sure what to use though.

Any idea's or advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Ed Yaworski

 

[Mike and Donna]

I'm in the process of upgrading my lighting. Have an Oceanic 58 with a 175 watt MH and two 36 watt actinics. My SPS are not as happy as they could be. So, I am going with two 250 watt HQIs and two 96 watt VHO actinics. I have seen a lot of HQIs in the two local LFSs lately and really love the color.

IMO, your LFS is underestimating the amount of light you will need to successfully grow SPS. I would consider the HQIs. Not sure about the total wattage, but a couple of 400s might be in the ballpark. Then, of course, you might want the actinics for aesthetic reasons.

JMO

 

[Anonymous]

The Oceanic hood is difficult to mount appropriate lighting in. However I would give strong consideration to a fixture that has 3 250W Double-ended MH bulbs (HQI) in it like the Aquaspacelight from AquaMedic. They are relatively shallow fixtures that **may** be able to reside inside your cap (you may need to add some fans for ventilation).

8 96W PC's would be okay however you'll likely be replacing those bulbs 1.5-2 times as often as the metal halide bulbs and you won't have as pleasing of a look. 2 Metal Halide's are simply gonna look kinda dorky because you won't get an even look and you'll have shadows (rule of thumb is one MH for every 2 feet of tank length).