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Originally Posted by Tarolisol
I wouldnt recomend Metal Halide (MH) if all you want is a simple cost effective tank. MH cost alot to run compared to Power Compacts Or VHOs. They also require some sort of hanging ballest ot cabinet above the tank.
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this is a misconception MH do not cost that much more to run than the equivalent wattage of VHO or PC or NO. the only difference is ballast efficiency which for MH is around 80 to 85% and the same for tar VHO ballast, electronic VHO and PH ballast run about 90 to 95% so really it is only a 5 to 10% difference in running a MH against an efficient PH or VHO in power usage.
I started out with overdriven NO, then moved to PC, then to PC and VHO, then 175MH , PC and VHO, then two 250 watt MH and two VHO actinic. all together I have spent 5000.00 on lighting in various combinations and this was trying to be cheep and save money as I didn't believe you needed all that, well from experience I can tell you spend the extra few bucks from the beginning and go to a MH type set up. Softies like the light, LPS like the light and SPS like the light. if you are thinking clams or anemone then I would say MH for sure. yes there are some SPS and anemone that do ok under lower light but they do do better under MH from what I have found. I would have saved over 4000.00 in lighting alone if I would have just went MH/VHO to start with
Steve
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