How much lighting?

[tsellers]

I have an AGA 65 gallon (L 36" x W 18" x H 24"). I have a canopy in which I will retrofit my lighting. I plan on have 110 watts of PC actinic lighting. My problem is that I am not sure how much metal halide lighting to use. The tank has a center brace which will force me to use two metal halide lights. Should I use two 175 watt halides or two 250 watt halides? Not sure what I want to keep in the tank yet, but would like to set it up to where I could keep anything (e.g. clams, SPS, etc). Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

 

[Ben1]

IMO I would go with 2 10-20k's 250 watt MH. Your tank is too deep for 175's which would make it impossible to go with some light loving corals near the bottom (sps).

 

[tsellers]

Ben,

Thanks for the reply.

Anyone else have a suggestion or opinion?

 

[Bdubbya]

I vote for the 250's. They are generally only $10 or $15 more and you can keep a lot more.

 

[Unarce]

I'll second the 250watt suggestion. If you go with 14-20K bulbs, you could skip the actinic supplementation altogether.

 

[Clownkeeper]

3rd the dual 250w 10k bulbs

Troy

 

[Ben1]

Man, you people are all out of order! :lol:

 

[tsellers]

Looks like the 250's are the way to go.

Thanks to all for your responses!