[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Yes, you can put 4 x 48" 100w bulbs on the 660 however they will all come on at once; the ballast don't allow for the bulbs to be separately controlled. People often use 2-430's; 1 for the actinic bulbs and 1 for the daylight bulbs.

I think that's a typo. I think you mean 110w lamps, not 100w.

[Samper]

Ok, so I can't run halides on those ballasts. Over my 75 I am looking to run two halides I also want to have some actinics because I love the look and so does company when they're over. I was thinking of keeping my coralife pc and replacing the 10ks with actinics hung above the tank. For the halides I will stagger them, one in front of the pc to the right of the tank and one behind the pc to the left side of the tank. I haven't determined wattage yet but I definately want an sps system. Clams although they are beautiful I don't want to attempt that. If I can get away with some lower wattage bulbs for sps what should I be looking at? For two halides do I need two seperate ballasts or do some companys make some that will run both bulbs?

About the lfs......it really ruins my day.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Samper

Ok, so I can't run halides on those ballasts. Over my 75 I am looking to run two halides I also want to have some actinics because I love the look and so does company when they're over. I was thinking of keeping my coralife pc and replacing the 10ks with actinics hung above the tank. For the halides I will stagger them, one in front of the pc to the right of the tank and one behind the pc to the left side of the tank. I haven't determined wattage yet but I definately want an sps system. Clams although they are beautiful I don't want to attempt that. If I can get away with some lower wattage bulbs for sps what should I be looking at? For two halides do I need two seperate ballasts or do some companys make some that will run both bulbs?

About the lfs......it really ruins my day.

The Ice Cap 430 and 660 ballasts are for fluorescent lamps only. Metal halide lamps require metal halide ballasts. Certain types of metal halide ballasts are more appropriate than others depending on the particular lamps that you want to run. Yes, they do make dual ballasts that will run two metal halide lamps. You can find those for most, but not all types of metal halide lamps.

[Samper]

I think I would like to go with some ushios...

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Samper

I think I would like to go with some ushios...

What wattage? SE or DE? 10,000K or 20,000K?

[Samper]

I definately want DE, could I get away with one 10k and one 20k or would I be much better off with just two 10ks and actinics for my blues? 150w - 250w range.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Samper

I definately want DE, could I get away with one 10k and one 20k or would I be much better off with just two 10ks and actinics for my blues? 150w - 250w range.

I wouldn't put one 10,000K and one 20,000K over a 4' long tank because the lighting would be obviously uneven and wouldn't look good.

My personal preference would be for a combination of 10,000K and 20,000K plus actinic supplementation, but you would have to have a minimum of three lamps -- two 10,000K and one 20,000K or vice versa. Naturally that might be impractical because it would cost a bunch. As far as the 150w vs. 250w part is concerned, you can certainly get by quite well with 150w DE (as long as it's 10,000K and not 20,000K) but you might want to consider 250w for the added intensity if you want to keep lots of SPS. If you decide to go with 20,000K lamps instead of 10,000K, then you will need to go with the 250w size for sure.

You can make this as simple or as complicated as you choose, depending on your personal preferences and how much you are willing to spend on lighting.