hey guys question about lighting

[kgb]

hey guys just wondering which is the better lighting. my friends have a 45 long and they want clams and hard corals and soft corals and was wondering if 250 watt 10k or a 175 10k is better.i am worried some what that the 250 watt might be 2 much light but they really want the blue/ white light . i heard from wayne that the 250 10 k have nice blue white color which they want. any suggetions

[kgb]

but yeah whats the best lighting what about 400 watts

[wayner]

KGB:

When I was talking 10k bulbs with you, I was referring to the 10K double ended bulbs which are actually 13k double ended bulbs made by Aqualine-Busche, the only mogul 250W bulb I've used is the Iwasaki which in my opinion, is a little too yellow , supplementing with actinics corrects this.

How high is your friends tank?, my expierence is you could do either & be fine, if the tank is 24" high I would go 250 or a single 400W, if your friend gets bitten like the rest of us in this hobby, he'll soon want a larger tank, probably better to go no less than 250 so he won't have to upgrade later on.

Just my opinion.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I would go with the 250s if I had it to do over again, if it is too much light you can keep the lights higher off the water.

Depends on what clams he wants to keep, Derasa will do fine under 175s, Maximas etc will like the 250 better.

I'm pretty sure your friend will get tired of the 45 long really quick it isn't the best tank IMHO because of the front to back measurements so he will probably be looking to upgrade the tank, so the extra lights will give him alot more options.