pratt reef lighting question

[gretag]

Hi, i need some info about lighting, and i wonder if 6500 is yellowish or not? what is the iwasaki 6500 watt specific product number? are they good? because i've heard bad thing about them. i'm planning a 150 gal reef and start with soft and LPS coral, is 2 175 with 4 NO actinic will do or i should go with 2 250?

thanks
Andy

 

[bwilliams]

My reading of the research is that the Iwasakis clearly gives you the best PAR for the wattage. You also get about twice as much PAR from a 250 than a 125, so it's worth the upgrade (I replaced my 175s with 250s after reading the numbers). Problem with Iwasakis is the light is a bit green (even more so than some 5500K bulbs). I compensate for with Ice Cap 660 and actinic lighting, and that works just fine. It's a bigger investment going with the combo, but I find it worth it - and I think my operating and bulb replacement costs are lower.