lightning question

buckeye88

Member
I have a 16 gal. reef tank with a lighting fixture that has a 40 watt white bulb, a 40 watt blue bulb and moon lights.
Right now I have soft corals which seem to be flourishing. I was wondering however, is this enough power for other types of corals and for anemones? I have a clownfish and would kinda like an anemone for it.
Also, I heard that you have to replace the bulbs every 6 months, is this true and why?
Thanks!!
 

reefmate75

Member
you never said what kind of light it is, i would think they are power compacts from the wattage you said, but you can do alot of difrent kind of corals with PC lighting, anf you have 80 wattz on a 16 you said, thats more than 4 watts per gallon so you are GTG!!!! with PC i would stay away from acros, alot of hard corals need stronger lighting like VHOs or MH, as for why to change the bulbs every 6 months, that was the pet store telling you that, PC should be changed every 9 months, becuase over time the light sectrum changes even though the bulb still works and you cant see any diffrence it has,
 

b bauer

Member
if you have pc I would not get one maybe vho and dont go by watts per gallon I have over 4.5 on pc I can not have one.
 

buckeye88

Member
I'm a dummy so bare with me. I'm really not sure what PC and vho is so I'm not sure what exactly i have.
the box says it's called a dual satellite and the company that makes it is current.
 

buckeye88

Member
What's the differance between VHO and PC? Do you need a special hood to use a VHO bulb?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help!!
 

b bauer

Member
they have different ballast and ends.2 totally different styles of lights.if you want an anemones go metal halide or high end t5
 
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