lighting my 72 gallon bowfront

[cj7eagle]

I will be setting my 72 gallon bowfront up sometime this summer. I am trying to figure out what i want to do for lights. It will be a reef tank with maybe half a dozen fish. I want a large variety of corals. I want to have absolutely no restrictions when it comes to lighting needs for anything. I want to be able to have clams, sps, and anemones. The tank is about 48" long and 22" high without any sand in it. I havent decided on a sand depth yet. still trying to figure out if i want a deep or shallow sand bed. I like the coralife aqualight units.
the one i was looking at has two 150w halide bulbs for $660. They also have the same with with 250w bulbs for $900. Would i be ok with the 150? or would that not quite be enough for what i want?
Perhaps other lighting suggestions for this tank?
Like i said, i want no lighting restrictions when it comes to livestock, and i would like a fair amount of growth.

 

[joncat24]

check out the odyssea 48" metal halides...you can get 2x250 with actinics for about $300

 

[gdleader]

I have the odyssea 48" metal halides 2x250W HQI 4x65w true antics and 6 moonlights, well worth it so far. bad thing about it is that you have to change the bulbs, which still it is worth it because then you'd have back up bulbs just incase. I recommand hanging it, I believe that the coralife hanging kit works well with this fixture

 

[joncat24]

I have had mine(72 inch version with 175 bulbs) for about 8 months now...no problems at all. and still have original bulbs in it. I have all types of corals and clams and everything is doing great.

 

[cj7eagle]

I cant seem to find a site that has odyssea 48" metal halide fixtures for sale, where should i be looking?

 

[joncat24]

aqua traders dot com

 

[cj7eagle]

thank you

 

[cj7eagle]

I checked it out... it looks like a great deal. Almost one of those too good to be true deals. They are less than half of what other brands (coralife, current) go for. how long have you had yours? anything you dont like about it? have you had coralife or current brands ever? how would you compare them?

 

[gdleader]

I havn't had other brands, but I can tell you that I really love this fixture, In everyway it's good cept the bulbs( I like other colors then what they give), but then again even if u change all the bulbs it wont cost as much as other brands.

 

[joncat24]

i didnt change the bulbs, had it for about 8 months and I love it. I think that odyssea even makes coralife or current lights now. They are awesome...order it.

 

[cj7eagle]

ok i did it. finally broke down and bought them. I found way more positive reviews than negative on this light. anybody know where aquatraders ships from?

 

[joncat24]

california