time to upgrade the lighting

[peter]

Up to this point my marine aquarium has been essentially a fish only operation with the exception for some live rocks and inverts. No coral though.

I have a 30 gal tank with just basic florescent lighting and I am defiantly in need of an upgrade. I am just looking for a bit of advise as to what might be the best way to go if I wanted to start keeping some coral, mainly soft corals for the time being but the more flexible the better.

Would I be best advised to go with Metal Halide Bulbs, VHO, Power Compact or some combination. I would also like keep in consideration the operating costs of these if anyone is familiar with that.

I would really appreciated some guidance as to what you might suggest. As well what might be a good coral to pickup as a starter piece, something not too expensive and of coarse hardy.

Thanks,
Peter

[afss]

If you are looking for flexability then go MH and VHO.
You can either buy a system pre made or do a DIY setup and save a few bucks

You definelty don't need MH, but it sure is nice.

Scott

[Dman]

With a 30 gallon tank all you would need is a 175W MH. I've seen some pretty darn terrific tanks running 175's they're inexpensive and the bulbs come in a range of colours.
Then keep your flourescents for dawn/dusk and you're laughing.
Dman
:spin: