Originally Posted by
CoosKid
http:///forum/post/3156568
I am getting a 150 (48x24x31) that want to make a reef tank out of. I like all types of coral and will probable have a mix in the tank. My question though, what to use for lighting. I have heard anything from 4x54w T5 HO with 2 150w MH to 6x54w T5 HO with 2 250w MH. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
tough question, soooooooo many ways to do this, and so many differnt opinions on lighting. I too also like the mixed reef look, what i would do is get a light bar that has 2-250w halides and 4-65w PC. This set up has worked good for me, many things to consider with all lighting though. The halides will heat your water up fairly well (good thing in winter because you dont need to run your heater as much, but really bad in summer because then you will need a chiller to cool it down, depending on where you live) Here is how i would do it, i would run the PC's with two atinics, and two daylights, put the atinics and daylights on timers as well as the halides. In the morning have your timers kick on your atinics for about an hour or so, then have the other two daylights kick in for about another hour to get the tank warmed up to the light. Once all the PC's have been running have your MH kick on to complete the sunrise to mid-day process. then just reverse the process for sunset untill you have your tank back to just some moonlights. This has always been good for me. You can do this with the t-5's instead of the PC's but the retro kits have everything you need in the unit already, just hang it, time it and enjoy. One rule of thumb is though, MH can support anything given the proper wattage, so if you ever want to do some really nice sps, your already set, the T-5's in my opinon just dont cut it (for me) MH give you a nice shimmering effect in your tank as the t5 dont quiet do it. But you have to remember about the heat issue and that MH suck up alot of power. As you can tell from just one reply that lighting is very very opinionated. Read as much as you can from everyone who will chime in and make your decison from there. The only real answer we can all agree on with lighing is that you get what you pay for, if you have to save, do it, because you will eventually upgrade and had wasted all that money the first time.
