Halide vs PC Question

[dirtyreefer]

Right now I have a 44G 25" deep tank, with a corallife 192W PC lighting system. I would like to upgrade to halides, preferable the bell pendant kind (around 250W). If I were to buy a 20000K bulb at 250W, would I still need actinics for acroporas? I also would like to keep some clams but mainly would like to keep SPS.

Would I need to keep both lighting systems, or would just the halides suffice?

[Namscam]

Nope you dont need actinics. i think after 14k you dont need actinics n e more

[ron101]

Just remember that as you go up in color temperature, you lose intensity (PAR). For example a 250W 20,000K may have the same PAR as a 175W 10,000K. Keep this in mind for species that prefer higher intensities.

[dirtyreefer]

Thanks for your replies guys. If I upgrade to a 10000-12000K 250W MH setup only (no fluorescents), would the appearance of the tank be very appealing. I know 20000K would be very blue looking, and 6500K looks very yellow. I just would like to get away with only having halides, but be able to keep most corals and make then visually appealing.

Any ideas?

[AJ_77]

have you checked out some of the threads that show different bulbs for comparison?

Here's Steve's recent one:
http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7896

And this 250W show put together nicely:
http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/

[dirtyreefer]

Thanks Alan, those are great links. That will definitely help in deciding what to buy. Too many bulb choices!

[sumpfinfishe]

Dirty, you have PM

[Lofus]

Does anyone know of a bulb comparrison page for 250W DE bulbs?