lighting opinion

[redbellyman]

I currently own a 90 gallon Lps with hopes of SPS coral tank. I am using an odyssea 2x 250wMH bulbs and 4x65 watt. I have had my tank running for a year and half. The rock is 3-4 year cured. I inherited the rock from my lfs friend.(rock from awesome display tank) n e way. I have used the odyssea for a year and its time for bulb replacement. I am asking what kind of bulbs, I am thinking 15K but I am asking what my fellow reefers think. I know the online approval rating of odyssea is crappy, but guess what, It works and it works well. I did vast amount of research prior to purchasing and happy I did. N e way, now that I got the hating taken care of, I really want to know brands of choice, my lfs recommends uishen and coralife 15k and I am replacing the 65w actincs.. How does this setup sound?

1. replace my 10k bulbs with nice 15K bulbs
2. replace my str8 dual actnic 65 bulbs with those bulbs that are 10l/actinc bulbs, I was thinking that way I would have actnic 10k and 15k is that sound good or bad?

[dobejazz]

Welcome to TRT !!

I may be wrong (and probably am ) but I think your tank will look really blue with that combo

[aquawolf]

Welcome to TRT!

Since you have the actinics already, my preference would be to go with 10K MH bulbs and true actinic PC bulbs. The 10K should give very high PAR and help with growth rates while the actinics will help supplement the coloration.

I think most people go with 14K and higher when they are not using actinic supplementation as they put off more of a blue color.

Lighting is different for everybody and each had their own preference, and that is why all I can do is tel you what I prefer. This does not mean it is the best solution and that everybody else is messed up, just my preference.

HTH

[redbellyman]

thanx for the welcome! I agree I wldnt want a pure blue appearance I was just curious if that would be better spectrum wise for corals! if u want pics
goto
http://picasaweb.google.com/saab9000turbo

[crvz]

Better spectrum is mostly preference, I do believe. If you're hoping for better growth, a "yellower" bulb is probably a better option. If you like the bluer look, though, stick with your plan.