Reef Tank Light Fixture Question

[sefo]

Hi there just a simple question I have a 55g tank 48" side to side, 12.5 front to back and 20" deep my question I think I need to use 175W MH 14K and at least 2 48" bubls but I don't know what to get Compact Fluorescent or
Actinic Blue any ideas would be great before I spend to much money

 

[clayton]

I would mix actinics and MH, but you may want to go with 10,000 K MH bulbs to get a better mix of light.

 

[krazzydart]

I have a compact flo and a 10,000K with an atinic on mine...

 

[sefo]

are the german mh better than the other "US" or if I have a hood with us mh can I buy german ones "same conection?"

 

[clownfish]

If you use a 14K MH, you don't need to supplement with actinics. There used to be an LFS near me called Reef World. They used 14K 175w Hamiltons on their large aquariums. The corals did great, anemones were happy, and clams loved it too. I can't afford MH, but I will set up a 70g in a month or so. My parents will probably buy me a 4x96 PC system for xmas. If they don't, I have money...