Lighting set up for an upgrade

[a&a2]

What is the best lighting system I can get for my 300 gallon I will be upgrading to this fall. I am looking to have some corals in it

 

[nikesb]

i'd say a combination of LED plus t5's.
2:1 ratio of royal blue to white cree led, 3 bulbs to make a strip of t5 purple + spreading across the tank, 4 bulbs of t5 super actinic, and 3 bulbs of t5 blue+.
seen this combo in person, and it is probably the best color i've seen yet. this was on a 280g aquarium chalice and sps dominated.

 

[a&a2]

Ok----don't I need 3-5 watts per gallon?

 

[nikesb]

old and outdated way of measuring lights.
you can have tons of pcs over your tank and it would still make less PAR than other lighting.

 

[a&a2]

Ok I have 3 ea 150 watt metal halides and 8 ea 39 watt t 5's?

 

[nikesb]

that would work well if you are not worried about keeping light demanding corals like sps in the bottom 2/3 of your tank.

 

[a&a2]

So if i did decide to how much more would i need?

 

[nikesb]

how tall is your tank? i think a 250w with lumenmax elite reflector would get you some decent par on the bottom of your tank

 

[a&a2]

24"

 

[nikesb]

yehp, 250w with good reflectors would definately penetrate fine through 24". lumenmax elite, lumenbright, lumenarc are some of the better ones
this is a good read
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/3/aafeature