Which light is better? Need advice quick!

[PuffersKick]

About to drop a chunk of change on a new Metal Halide light system. Which one is better?

Coralife Aqualight Elite (http://www.aquatichouse.com/lights_files/elite.asp)

OR

Coralife Aqualight Pro (http://www.aquatichouse.com/lights_files/proseries.asp)

Both are the 72" versions. The main difference are the metal halide bulbs.

Are double ended or single ended better?

The Pro fixture has 2 more actintic bulbs and lunar lights which are nice.

[WeMa]

in a fixture like this, it doesnt really matter too much, single ended in standalone MH fixtures tend to be larger and have more reflectivity. i personally have a light like the pro, and enjoy it alot...i really love the size factor with the DE bulbs, half the thickness. plus, with the 2 additional actinic bulbs, you would not have to worry about getting some natural blue light using a lower k rated bulb for growth. i also like DE because i have heard too many stories of bulbs breaking because of salt creep and since the bulb itself filters the uv it then kills corals under the crack. this fixture may not be a problem cause it porbably has a splash guard, but i KNOW the DE fixture has a splash guard because it does the filtering and it will not break because of salt creep or getting wet.

[luke33]

If its a 125g tank you need to make sure its 250w mh's imo. I'm not a fan of the coralife as there one of the cheaper fixtures out there.

[SoGoneRG]

I have had both lights...the elite with the 250w is intense for my 75G...It bleached out my corals and algae bloom was scary..my 9w UV could not keep up...I ended up down size to the pro with 150w...

If you get any of those lights, i'd roccomend changing out the bulbs...unless u like a yellowish tint/funky growth in my tank/hurts my eyes and doesn't bring out the colors of my corals. I changed out my atinics to 420's and 20k on my MH I believe they are double ended as well...I could be wrong...Everything is packed up and haven't seen it for about a year..lol

[muzz]

If interested, I have a 72 outer orbit pro hqi for sale. Not sure where you are located, but shoot me a private message if you want to talk, I am in illinois.

[SoGoneRG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11180964#post11180964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by luke33
If its a 125g tank you need to make sure its 250w mh's imo. I'm not a fan of the coralife as there one of the cheaper fixtures out there.

me either...not a fan, but I will use what I got :D
I had one that caught on fire lol and they sub it with the Elite version...Customer service is great, I recieved it a week after I called and I paid a few bucks more to get the elite one though, but they treated me right...

[WeMa]

very true sogone, bulbs have to be changed, i used mine as a transition period for my corals because i never had halides before, but after a couple months i couldnt stand the yellow and purchased 12k reeflux and actually replaced the ballasts with corlvues as well, even brighter colors now...kind of a waste for me, but just the bulbs made a big difference