Lighting help

[rdursch]

Ok, so I have been looking around here for some time now and I must say I am a little confused when it comes to lighting an SWA.
What are the differnces between, 1) MH, 2) VHO, 3) acitin, and 4) coarl life.
ANY help is greatly apperciated.
I have a 90g tank with compact 10k coral lif and and acitin. I think it is not enough but everyone in the tank seems happy. I have muschroom coral, flat brain, several anenomes, coraline on LR(red velvet looking very pretty) and several fish.
TIA!! You all are GREAT!!!:cheer:

 

[texasranchers]

rdursch, "What are the differnces between, 1) MH, 2) VHO, 3) acitin, and 4) coarl life..."
Sometimes it can be preferance.
MH, higher k, wattage, brighter lights, deeper intensity and is great for hard corals.
VHO, (Very High Output), lower watts, good k
Actinic, blue hues
We have:
1 MH, 250w, 10k
1 MH, 250w, 20k, radium, both on electronic ballasts(2)
2 VHOs, 48*, 110w, Actinic
1 Moon light, .15w or something like that
2 cooling fans, very important if you go with MHs
times two tanks

 

[timo]

Sorry to sound rude, but these are questions that have been asked and answered on this and every board a thousand times. Do a search on those keywords, and/or generally surf around the net on marine aquarium topics. You could do that for years and keep learning. Also look at vendors of lights and fixtures. They will generally be quite informative about their products.

 

[dburr]

What are the differnces between, 1) MH, 2) VHO, 3) acitin, and 4) coarl life.
Their are MH, VHO, PC and NO(normal output.
Atinic can be found in VHO, PC and NO. That is a puprle looking bulb.
Coralife is a brand name. They make all types of bulbs.

 

[rdursch]

Originally posted by TimO
Sorry to sound rude, but these are questions that have been asked and answered on this and every board a thousand times. Do a search on those keywords, and/or generally surf around the net on marine aquarium topics. You could do that for years and keep learning. Also look at vendors of lights and fixtures. They will generally be quite informative about their products.

Sorry TimO! I have looked on these boards and have found several different things that have utterly confused me. Being a newbie, I wouldn't expect that type of a response. That is why I posted it here in the new hobbyist forum.

 

[timo]

You asked a straight-forward question on the difference between Metal halide, Very high output bulbs, and what actinic is, and you got different responses?
:notsure:

 

[rdursch]

Just trying to figure out which one(s) I should be using.