ok, lighting, i will give you a basic rundown. its all about the spectrum.
NO-normal output flourescent lighting is cheap to run, and relatively
cheaper to buy than halides. NO lighting is limited in spectrum. you
should have atleast one 50/50 which is 50 percent actinic (Deep Ultra
Violet)and 50 percent natural daylight 6000Kelvin(kelvin is a temperature
mesaurement that is used to also measure color), and one 10,000K Daylight.
This will give you a good spectrum. Now if you buy these in 24 and 36 inch,
i think they are only 20watt per bulb, but for bigger tanks you can get the
4 feet version which is 40 watts per bulb. now its not actually about the
watts, its about the lumens, the actual amount of light that the watts are
producing. Flourescents cost cheap to operate per lumen, where halided are
expensive per lumen, but Halides, you get what you pay for, many many many
lumens, the valuable portion of the procedure! Flourescents cant burn as hot
as halides so they cant produce as much light, therefore are bulky for the
amount of output, but still cheaper.

Halides cost more, run hotter, run brighter for their comparable size, and
have more of a spectrum range, which ultimately allows for quicker
production of life due to non stressful conditions with perfect light. The
spectrum band is not as narrow, instead of just covering right around the
10000k band for instance, its more like 5500k or 6000k all the way up to
10500k imagine. The fixtures cost more, the bulbs cost more, together the
amount of electricity burning in that bulb is amazing and temperatures are
even more amazing, despite all this its still safe if you have a good lite
with a cover over the bulb so water doesnt hit that baby. Halides make a
beautiful lite, looks like sunshine in a box! Makes fish stand out like
never before. Worth the cost. i would get 150-250 watts of this kind of
lighting to start off but you can buy smaller 60 watt versions i think that
take up less that half the space of 80 watts of 4 feet flourescent bulbs.
you wont have to hang a halide i dont think. you will most likely have to
hang flourescents.
wolfhedd.
..
"~Vicki ~" wrote in message
...
Hummmm wondering out loud here. What is so special about the more
expensive lighting? Is it the bulb? or is it the fixture? Just
wondering if Home Depot would have something that would work for a lot
less money. I don't mind suspending it over the tank.

Vicki

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