What lights would you chose?

[dgbnyc]

Hi Anthony,
I'm sure you get similar questions from time to time so forgive me if you have answered this in the past.
What kind of light would you recommend for a reef hobbyist?
I have a standard 90 gallon tank and want to keep a combination of SPS & LPS happy.
Would you go with MH? A combo of MH & VHO? What wattage?
your thoughts are much appreciated!
Thanks,
David

[Anthony Calfo]

To begin with... I could not fairly make a recommendation based on "mix of SPS and LPS".

To decide upon a lighting system... you need to literally make a list of compatible species and assess their lighting needs from their.

Many of the popular corals we call LPS are low to medium light denizens (Bubble corals, Euphylliids, Trachyphyllia, etc)... and many/most of the corals we call "SPS" are shallow water high light creatures.

Based on the above statement, there is no standardized lighting that will satisfy both optimally. I would not recommend mixing them equally or randomly.

Its always best to focus on a niche, biotope or group of like organisms for many reasons beyond lighting compatibility issues, not the least of which is allelopathy.

If you would take my advice and go instead with medium light, hardy and colorful soft corals (with a few LPS mixed low, or a few SPS mixed high tolerated)... then I would suggest you put a total of about approximately 400 watts of double ended HQI 10K lamps over this display. It would be a nice aesthetic and useful quantity and color of light for the widest range of possible species in my opinion.

best regards,

Anthony