55 gal HQI Question

[jcusmarine]

Wonder if any of you can give me some advice.

I am looking at several 48" fixtures for my 55 Gal.

Would it be better just to go with a HQI/Lunar light fixture? or should I get a mix between HQI and T5's or PC's to supplement the actnic spectrum?

I was thinking if I got 14000k HQI's I might not need the addition of the actinic via PC's or T5's.....

Well, I thought it better to ask many of you who have already gone through the gambit of upgrading their lights so if anyone has some input it would be appreciated.

I have an outer orbit PC unit at the moment that has worked very well for me, but I need more intense light to get into some of the corals I intend to add.

Thanks.

 

[wbholwell]

Here's my 2 cents: I have 309 watts of T5 lighting on my 72 bowfront, and am sucessfully keeping many different sps as well as a maxima clam on the sandbed. I haven't had the PAR tested yet, but I think it's comparable to MH without quite the amount of heat generated.

If you choose to go MH, you could go 14000k of 15000k w/o actinic supplementation.