What kind of lighting are you using?

[christyf5]

I've always used 250W MH. Mostly because when I set up the tank I did some research which indicated that 250W was the way to go if I went metal halides. I wasn't sure what I was going to do but found a smokin deal in the buy and sell in Vancouver. The setup I bought consisted of a DIY hood with H37 ballasts which only run Iwasaki bulbs. As I hadn't had a lot of experience with halides, the "pee yellow" was fine with me I stuck with those bulbs for 4 years and only had to change them out a couple of times during those 4 years (I think I got worried at about 18 months or so). I supplemented them with 2x40W NO actinics at the time. Eventually I switched out the NO actinics to an Icecap VHO ballast and ran 2x110W with the Iwasakis because I was getting tired of the yellow but not enough to get new ballasts (DIY electrical scares me sometimes).

Last year I switched over to M59 ballasts (I sucked it up on the electrical issue, it was easier than I thought!) as they could run pretty much any bulb I wanted. I immediately bought a set of ushio bulbs which looked the best to me when compared with a few other types of bulbs. So far I've tried the Reeflux 10K bulb (made my tank look pink, it was weird) and XM 10K bulbs (more yellowy than the ushio) and have stuck with the Ushio for now (until I try something else or something else goes on sale ).

Pretty happy with my setup, only thing I would change at this point is to go with 250W HQI ballasts if I managed to find a good deal on them, then I'd probably think about going DE someday.

[mark]

Have 2-250W 14k Hamiltons with 2-40W NO (one Daylight, one actinic).

Been thinking for a while to replace the NO's with 2- T5 actinics but like the light I get from the NO's for dawn/dusk.

[andresont]

How about LED's? many people use these. Also PC +T5 compbo is very common.

[Sushiman]

Originally Posted by andresont

How about LED's? many people use these. Also PC +T5 compbo is very common.

I love my Solaris 20K.

[Doug]

Using HO, T-5 bulbs currently. My sps corals seems to be doing fine so far. However my new cube is designed to be lit by a single halide and I figure on a 250w. Thinking about HQI pendant, {cough,cough}, but may just go with the normal 250w PFO ballast from JL and a 250w SA 10K bulb. It had the highest rating behind Iwasaki, in recent tests and I,ve already used their 14K bulbs.

[0sprey]

None of the above... I have the new Solaris LED fixture. Started out with it (no point in wasting money on intermediate fixtures, I knew I'd want to upgrade), but haven't progressed to the more demanding corals yet... that will come with time. The tank is only six months old.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I use Power Compacts (2x96W+2 LED Moonlights) over my 20" tall 55G tank. All softies and LPS right now, so it seems ok.

What I don't like about it is...well, obviously it limits me as to what I can keep. And the bulbs are hella expensive if you buy them from the LFS. So, instead of spending $100 on a MH bulb every year, I'm spending $160 on PC bulbs.

Obviously, aesthetics play a huge part in why and how we keep our aquariums. Power Compacts aren't, in my opinion, as aesthetically pleasing as either MH or T5 (I've never seen the Solaris in action).

[Gordon H]

I am using PFO Solaris H4 LED. It does not appear to be on your list of available lights.

[cprowler]

I have 1-400w & 1-250w MH, VHO & T5 so I didn’t know what to vote for.

I have a 250w 10K XM above the coral wall side and a 400w 10K XM abouve the Anemone, both driven by magnetic ballasts.

I also have 3 x 48" 110w and 1 x 36" 95w VHO Super Actinics run off a Ice cap 660

& 2 x 54w T5 (1-10k & 1-actinic) by Tek



I did it this way because I wanted the best of all worlds, I'm greedy that way. I had read how people liked the different colors they were getting from their respective methods and I figured I would have them all since I don't know what I'm doing.

If I were to do it again and I may do it anyway is, replace it all with HQI DE pendants with 14k or 20k bulbs, but I havn't looked into it yet. I'm fairly happy with it now so...



I have pics in my tank thread.

[Chaloupa]

in my 150g-2x400w plus T5's and adding in LED moonlights this weekend, bought so I would never have to "upgrade to better lighting"

in my 120g-1x250w plus actinics and moonlights, bought to keep easier corals and not have to worry about lighting

in my 65g hex-1x150w plus PC's and moonlights, bought as an all in one unit as I was a newbie and didn't really know much, this was available and easy to use...but in a deep tank it sucks!