help with reef tank lighting!!!

[brokendeck]

hello. im new to saltwater. i have a 75 gallon tank, i want it to be a reef tank. i was told that u could use a t5 or metal halide for this setup. i work in a electric supply house and we sell metal halide stuff. i was wondering what all would i need to set up this lighting.
i know i would need the light socket, bulbs and wire but im new so i need to know the watt size and everything else i would need so i could go ahead and buy it and start putting this lighting in. i wanna set my lighting up with metal hailde lighting.
i need to know the watts and everything else i would need to set this up. thanks to everyone who helps me.
another question, i want the blue bulbs like u get in a strip light like jebo and so on. how would i set this up?

 

[reefraff]

For halides you need a ballast, socket and reflector for each lamp. You want a parabolic style reflector, marine depot has just reflectors I think.
As far as wattage it depends on your tank and what you want to raise
Need length x depth x height of the tank but generally speaking 250 watt halides are the most commonplace and probably most versatile as far as the size tank you can use it on.

 

[wangotango]

Two 250w bulbs would allow you to keep whatever you wanted. What bulbs to use depends a lot on your preference. If you like more blue then look for something in the 14-20k range. If you like more white, shoot for the 10-12k range.
Google Sanjay Joshi lighting tests for some good bulb/ballast combinations and comparisons.
-Justin