[vder]

Last year I purchased an Oceanic 135 gallon and tank with the hood from my LFS. The subject of lighting came up and I was told to go with Power Compacts. Went with 4 96 watt pc lights. After doing some reading on here for awhile I believe he had sold me what was best for him and not for me.

So what is the best way to light the tank ? I want to keep the hood . Any ides would be greatly appreciated.

[Ltspd]

IMO you could get by with the pc's based on what you are wanting to keep. If you want sps, clams and more lighting intense animals then the need for a couple of halides is in order. You can still use the pc's, but just add the haldies.

You could add a couple of 150/175w halides in conjuction with your pc's and be able to keep most corals and clams happy. If you wanted a sps tank or more difficult clams then the need for 250w haldies or larger comes into play.

What would you like to keep?

[vder]

Would like to be able to keep SPS and clams down the road .

[Ltspd]

Then how about (3) 250w halides with (2) 96w actinic's. I would suggest the 6500k Iwasakis and the actinic 03 pc's for the tank. You would have a nice lit tank with good actinic supplementation.

Or,

(2) 10kk 250w halides and (2) 6700k or 10kk pc's with (2) 03 pc's for the actinics.

or

(2)10kk 250w HQI's with (2) 6700 or 10kk pc's with (2) 03 pc's.

The possibilties are endless.