Lighting help/cost

[bigpapa]

I am about to set up a 150 gal 6' tank. 72 long x 24 wide x 20 high. Anyhow, from trusted sources it seems like I should go with a 250w mh system with t5 actnic support. I currently only have a fowlr but am interested in adding soft corals and some clams. My question is this... What is a "good price" for what I am looking for? I have seen alot of ranges but am cringing at the thought that getting 3 24's might cost over a grand. The tank is in the process of me building a 12" high canopy so I could incorporate it into the canopy if I need to. Any help with this would be great. I get lots of great advice on here and just dont want to go to the lfs or anywhere and get alot of the "wrong" stuff.
Thanks,
Rob

 

[spiderwoman]

If your tank has 2 braces, then you'll need to go with 3x250W MH's and you can estimate brand new ones to run about $200 for the ballast, bulb and reflector (I may be off with that though) each. Retrofit T5's I'm not sure how much those would be.
You could go with a 72" MH fixture that has everything in it. Also you may be just fine with 175W MHs because your tank is not that deep. I've got 28inch deep 150 and I'm going with 2x400W + testing a LED fixture.

 

[bigpapa]

Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2645811
If your tank has 2 braces, then you'll need to go with 3x250W MH's and you can estimate brand new ones to run about $200 for the ballast, bulb and reflector (I may be off with that though) each. Retrofit T5's I'm not sure how much those would be.
You could go with a 72" MH fixture that has everything in it. Also you may be just fine with 175W MHs because your tank is not that deep. I've got 28inch deep 150 and I'm going with 2x400W + testing a LED fixture.
I knew I forgot something. Yeah, it has 2 braces.