100lbs of live rock for free...now setting up a new tank

[Fballvera22]

I recently had 100 lbs of live rock fall in my lap (not literally). A lady in my city who was moving had to get rid of her rock after little responces from an ad in the local paper, i helped her with some things around the house and got the live rock for free. So i was "forced" to convert my 80 gallon tropical to a salty.

Now i must tackle the lighting. I have floresent ballasts and am debating what kind of bulbs to put on. The questions i have are:

What is better/the not-so-obvious difference-10,000k or 20,000k?
What amount of Actinic blue is needed?

 

[dbacksrat]

I can answer your first question: you want 10000K because it is a good balance of blue and red spectrum--20000K is rediculously blue and unneccessary

 

[wayne]

Agree withthe above - you get much more real uumph from 10K's, the blueness in a 20 is largely aesthetic

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Found that the 20000k is very appealing but the par sucks. I've seen the difference between a Giesemann 150 HQI 20000k and a 10000k Ushio. The Ushio looks 40 % more powerful. Better go for the "more natural" spectrum of the 10000k. 14000 could be a good deal too ( harder to find though )
The high point of the 20000 is the longevity. Anyways MH bulbs can last 2-3 years before shifting spectrum badly ( even tough it's said they're useless in 1 year and a half ).

 

[Fballvera22]

thank you all for you help. What kind of percentage should I have of actinic blue?

 

[S.Reef]

I would go with a 14000K bulb. It gives off a nice blueish tint, but has the right spectrum to maintain corals.

 

[wayne]

What do you mean the high point of the 20K is longetivity - I hear they shift very quickly, and when tried for farming needed changing after 90 days.

% actinic blue is up to you. Any bulb with more 6500 K spectrum is providing enough blue light at the correct spectral range, so it's simply what you like.