If you get a metal halide bulb, do you need any other light besides that to grow corals?

Which 20K bulb is BETTER....... XM or Ushio ....... on IceCap 250w ballasts? comments? opinions? advice? bring it all on....please

Hi to all, I have a 150 reef system with all the different kinds of coral. Soft, hard, sps, lps, arcro. etc... I have three 250w 12K Coralvue reeflux bulbs that are about a year and a half old. I didn't realize that I hadn't changed them for that long. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone...

lets beat the dead horse:deadhorse:.....again just wanting to know my light to coral range What wattage for a 10 gallon would be considered moderate to high lighting. I am getting this which has a total of 80 watts.. http://www.marineandreef.com/Satellite_2X40W_20_inch_Current_USA_p/rcu01012.htm

I am sure I will have a lot of questions for you...so bear with me. We would like to add some vegetation into our 33 gallong long tank and copepods. In doing some reading I am leaning towards finding 1 or 2 mangroves and also some caulerpa. I know I can add the mangroves into the tank...

how many watts do i need to grow softies?? I have a 75 gallon....

Found a company called Light Spectrum Enterprises that sells all kinds of light bulbs including reef lights. They have metal halide bulbs for pretty cheap - which kind of worries me. Anyone ever tried them or heard anything about them? For the price, it might be worth just buying one or two...

i need help... i am starting up a 65 this time. i have retro halides and also have 2 hqi fixtures. lets say, or pretend that they are the same wattage, what is the difference in 2 X 150 watt retro halides and 2 X 150 watt hqi fixtures? deciding which way to go here and don't know the...

Just an unofficial poll. ;) Given the option of an 8' tank, would you do it? Say that the price was right, but lighting not included. And the house could accomidate. And maybe it's a Starphire tank. I stumbled on a possibly 8 footer, and possibly the right house for it. I just have never had...

Hard to believe that we've been posting here 8 years now... :ac15: It doesn't seem that long since the systems were all NO fluorescent bulbs and daylight from a picture window for growth... :eek:

... and I need some expertise. So here's the deal, for 2 reasons I want to grow frags in my sump. A) I'd like to not ugly up the display with my classy frag rack, 2) my pH is pretty low and I'd like some reverse photoperiod, and D) it'd be a nice supplement of tank funds if I can get some...

was thinking about ordering this for 2-400 watt mh's..is this a good brand?price?..its magnetic..is that good? i thought all ballasts were magnetic..what else are they other then magnetic and why is magnetic better? <TABLE id=productDetailTable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0...

Ok - I've got some extras to sell, except where indicated, they work just fine, although they may be a little dirty (have some old coraline algae, etc): First off, a CPR CS100 overflow. I don't have the foam piece anymore, and there's a 1" threaded union glued to the bottom (saves you a little...

Hello I have been out of the hobby for over 5 years now and I'm looking to get back into it. I had a coupe of 90 gal tanks (one reef and one fish only) in the past. I'm now looking at a 150 to 215 sized tanks. I live in a dry climate and water will evaperate at a high rate which is my first...

My salinity is 1.021, according to my hydrometer that seems ok. Is this ok?

will this be enough lighting for sps and lps corals for my 29 gallon? <TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle colSpan=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=5></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right> </TD><TD width=20>...

Ok, ... Something seems fishy about this. I was looking around on ebay last night and found Several individuals/stores selling 150w/250w/400w metal halide bulbs (6500k to 20,000k). FOR ONLY $10 - $15 EACH!!! Now... in my experience, if it smells like poo, looks like poo.... well... you know...

Ok i know im a newbie but Im just not getting the advantages or disadvantages between Metal Halide and T5. Both seem to be the same price but is there somthing that one is more favorable twords.... such as color or more suited to corals etc etc. Thanks for the help. Daniel

Ok, I'll be setting up a 180 or 215 in the very near future. I have the cash to buy the Solaris system, but I'm so scared that corals won't do as well as a halide-T5 system. If I don't buy the Solaris now, it is unlikely I'll have the money for it later. I really don't want to wind up buying...

I bought the hello lights magnetic ballast 175 watt mougle retrofit system with xm 10k bulb. 1st, I am really wondering if this thing is safe. The ballast is a random ballast, with wires coming out of it, and there is a capsul shaped something called "internal discharge resistor". This really...