40 breeder lighting

Hello,

To give you some background information, I am starting up a 40 gallon breeder reef tank. I would like to keep different types of corals, hard and soft. My dillema is this: I dont know what type of lights to get. I was looking at getting a PFO brand 175 watt Metal Halide at 6500k with 2 28 watt actinics. Do you think I should go with the more expensive Halide/PC combo I mentioned, or should I go with a 175 watt 10,000k Halide bulb only? I want to stay away from supplemental lighting, so would 10,000k be enough actinic to give the corals the photosynthetic actinic they need, or do I need to supplement? I think 175 MH watts at 10,000k should be good for any corals, but I wanted to see what you guys think.

Thanks,
Gordon

[Doug1]

Personally I dont run MH just VHO but the MH I have seen I like the 250 Iwasaki better than the 175 off brand 6500K off brand bulb. Some people like the actinc supplmentation while others like the higher Kelvin bulbs without. For a non supplemented lighting I would look at the HQI Bill E is using

[Bubafat]

I would go with a higher wattage bulb if I were you. I say this as I've been there done that, and eventually, if you ever decide to go with clams or sps corals, you will need a higher wattage bulb.

I would AT LEAST go with a 250w 10K bulb and a 400w 10k bulb would be much better. I've had 10K bulbs, and the Ushio brand gives a very nice white color. Personally, i think that 12k bulbs are UGLY as H#LL and even blueline 10k bulbs are too fake blue.

I also agree, DON"T go with a 6500k bulb unless you go with the 250w or 400w iwasaki, and then I would supp it.

Buba