Getting ready to buy

Angel,
There are a few things in that webpage, I am not sure of, but it would be
best if you got in touch with them and clarfied a few points.
1) It seems to me that they ship with 175w 5,500k MH bulbs, in other
words, the prices next to each setup seem to include the above bulbs. If
you need any other MH bulb, you probably will need to upgrade and that
will cost extra. Now you may buy them with these bulbs but without good
actinic supplementation you probably will not appreciate how they light
up your tank, and not all corals will like the color (especially those that
need light in 420nm/450nm)
2) It doesnt say what kind of choice you have on the VHOs. It probably is
VHO actinic, in which case you will probably be in good shape since the
VHO actinics are the best.

If you do indeed go for this setup (MH+VHO), I'd reccomend you not get
the 5,500k bulbs but go with either the Iwasaki 250W or if you'd rather
keep 175W bulbs then ditch the 5,500k bulbs in favor of the Ushio
10000k bulbs. Both these bulbs have superior PAR.

If you go with MH only, then again the 5,500k color MH may not give the
best look to your tank and I am not aware of a 5,500k bulb with good
PAR. Therefore, if you go with this option you may want to swap out the
standard bulbs with the upgrade option. I couldnt find CCT (Correlated
Color Temperature - a measure of how true the color output is with
respect to the rated output) Hamilton 14000k bulb, therefore I am not
sure it puts out 14000k or even anything close to that (I will have to look
up Sanjay Joshi's paper to figure out why the Hamiltons have no CCT data
in his measurements). I would suggest the Iwasaki 6500k which spits out
the best PAR of any 6500k or 250w bulb but again you may not
appreciate the yellowish-white light (although depending on the ballast it
may even run bluish white). For a MH only setup, the best option they
have there seems to be the 20,000k Radium which has good PAR among
20,000k bulbs (and has a significant 450nm component) but it will add
2x$98 to the cost.
Please email the Marine Depot folks for their advice and clarification. We
can tell you here if they are being true or trying to unload something on
you.

ps: There is someone here selling a Hamilton setup, perhaps they would
give better feedback on the performance of these systems.

another ps: There is a typo on the webpage, the IceCap ballast listed
under the fluoroscent upgrade option is not a 430W ballast, its just a
designation ie 430 and not 430W, just FYI.

Angel, most bulbs are like that. The ballast also has a contribution in the
final color output of the bulb. As bulbs are "burned in" they change color as
well, therefore, the although the rated output may be 10000k the true color
output may be a range around the rated output. But these are just a
technicality, and most hobbbyists accept it. This only serves to explain why
someone's 10000k bulbs is bluer and someone else's looks a bit yellow.
Therefore, its just a detail, please dont sweat over it too much. It helps when
you are comparing different 10000k bulbs and different ballasts. The Ushio
bulbs they are selling are very good and many people on the forum here use
them.