Lighting Help...

[jd_75g]

Posted this in Equipment/Lighting, but wanted input from the reef experts...
I can buy a Coralife 48" HQI retro fit setup (2 x 150W, 2 96w PC actinic) for $450. Thoughts?
I have a 75G and would like to be able to keep pretty much anything. Will the 150w suffice?
Should I stick with T5?

 

[tang master]

That will give you exactly 6.56 watts per gallon. ill ale you to keep most sps and lps corals but if you were at 8 watts per gallon, that would be ideal. With this setup you should be able to keep pretty much anything. good luck!

 

[detane]

Yup your good to go!

 

[natclanwy]

Watts per gallon is a pretty much useless number, the type of lighting and the depth of the tank is far more important than the wattage. 150w of PC lighting is not even close to the same amount of light as a 150w of MH lighting.
The coralife fixture will be fine, and will provide adequete lighting for anything you want to keep some of the brighter colored SPS corals may need to be closer to the top of your tank to keep the bright coloration, but you will just have to experiment to find the proper placement.

 

[culp]

if you buy great bulbs for it you should be able to keep just about any thing. but your can't go pick out some cheaper bulb to save a little money.

 

[jd_75g]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like I can stick with the 2 x 150w rather than going with 2 x 175w or 250w. Does $450 sound like a good price for that specific retrofit unit?
Also, would ya'll go with that over T5s?
Thx!

 

[natclanwy]

The price sounds okay to me, and I would definetly go with MH's over T5's. I really prefer the look of the MH's over the T5's.