Watts vs type of lights?

[Eazy222]

I have a 2'x'2'x6', I keep reading about the ammount of light that I need. When the ammount of wattage is talked about is it the total number of watts, no matter how many lights are used.

I have a PC 4x96w set up. 2 of them are acintic. It gives me a total of a 384 output.

I really don't want to spend another $1000 on lights, but have the option to get another PC set up that will put out a total of 576w.

If I use the two set ups it would equal 960w. roughly 5.3 watts per gallon.

Would this suffice to keep most corals? I hear mixed reviews about PC vs MH lighting. I just want to make sure that this will work. Down the road I may want to get more advanced corals, but for now I want to keep it simple, as I'm just starting out.

[luvmylo]

my vote is mh. You can get a decent mh retro kit for not that much money at all. I just don't like the minimal penetration of pc's

[Loverotties]

Total watts is old school!so is PC,your better off buying T5HO system and the best is Mh or leds and thats the order in $$$ too!

[scoop]

The differences between pc lighting and T5's are two-fold: First, on T5's you you can use individual reflecters (SLR's) that direct a lot more of the light in to the tank vs. dispersing in all directions; Second, T5's typically last 12 to 18 months, where pc bulbs should be replaced around every 6 months, making them very expensive. If you want to keep sps corals, clams, anemones, and any other high light corals, you need T5's w/ SLR's or MH bulbs. On a tank your size a MH retrofit kit (if you are a little handy) is probably the most cost effective solution for keeping all types of corals. No matter how many pc lights you put on the tank they will not be intense enough for long term success w/ high light species, also, changing the bulbs every 6 months will quickly become very expensive, negating the upfront lower expense.

[danjen10]

I agree with the posts. I have a combo fixture with PC and MH. I also have another fixture that is all T5 (Tek light).

The TEK is 6 x 54W and the PC's in the combo fixture are 4 x 96W. The PC's total about 25% more electricity that the T5's with SLR's.

I can tell you that side by side there is no comparison. I would not spend $1 more on PC. Buy a new T5 fixture. Check out bulkreefsupply.com. That's where I got my Tek 48" 6 bulb light. They have good prices.

BTW - get top quality bulbs too (Giessmann or ATI) They cost like $2-$5 more each but are day and night different.

HTH's