Need help with lighting for a 125.

[tony44]

Hello everyone. Fairly new to this board, was hoping to get some much needed advice.
I recently bought a 125 gallon tank, with wet/dry, stand, lights, and a few fish, etc.
The light that came with it is a 72" Coralife. It holds 4X96 flourescent lights, and has the little moonlights. I want to turn this tank into a reef tank, and was wondering what kind of lighting I would need to be able to keep corals, and invertebrates?
I have gotten some mixed reviews on this, just hoping to get some opinions from people who have corals, and know what they are doing.
Thanks

 

[quads4_lif]

Many people have different opinions on lighting but Alot of people use Metal Halid's. MH's are almost a must to do the hard corals. If it were my tank I would go with 3 250w 10,000K MH and 4 VHO actinics.

 

[quads4_lif]

Oh one other thing with light get what you want the first time so you are not wasteing your money buying one type of lighting and then buying the correct lighting later

 

[bkvreef]

I have a 110g that is 72" x 18 x 18 and I have 4 x 65 48" p.c.'s from my 55g. But I put on a t-5 tek retro-fit and I am very happy with the lighting!

 

[tony44]

How would I be able to get metal halides for my lighting fixture thing(or whatever it is called)?
Would I need to get a retrofit, or is it cheaper to just buy a whole new fixture?
And also, with the lights that I have right now, what would I be able to keep? I know I cant have any hard corals, but what would I be able to keep with the 4X96 lights?
Thanks

 

[quads4_lif]

There are certain places on the web that sells retro fit kits for a reasonable amount. I bought my 250w 14000k hamilton and ice cap ballast with all wireing and reflectors for 250.00 There are a few other places that sell them for a little less. I cant really tell you where on this site since it is against the rules.
With the lights you have now you should be able to keep Zoas mushrooms and most softies.

 

[tony44]

Can I keep Xenia with my current lights? I think Xenia is amazing!!!
And the lights that you got for $250, were those for a 72" fixture?

 

[joncat24]

thats for one bulb and fixture...you can keep softies under that light. If i were you I would google "72" odyssea metal halide"
you can get it for around $450 which is about a third of any other brand. I have it on my 180 and love it.

 

[tony44]

I think I am just going to go with what I have right now, and in the future get some metal halides.
The lights I have right now are all Coralife, 2X96 regular flourescent bulbs, and 2X96 actinic bulbs. The actinics that I have give off a purpleish color, and not much of a blue. Is it normal for actinic to be purple? Or idk if there is such a thing, but is there a chance that I have purple actinics?
Thanks.

 

[reeffreakgeek]

With the lighting that you have you can pretty much keep basically all softies and many LPS but I would avoid SPS.Actinics(460nm) are blue and actinic(420nm) is more purple but not always the case.How old are the bulbs?They usually need to be replace every 8-12 months.
You should be able to have a diverse reef tank with what you already have.
Best of Luck

 

[tony44]

I bought the tank less than a month ago, and the guy I bought it from said that he has had the setup for about a year. So yes, I will need to buy all new bulbs.
I am not quite sure whether mine are 460nm, or 420nm, but I would assume 420 since mine are more purple than blue, kinda look like a blacklight actually. BTW, what does nm stand for? My lights are 10,000k, but dont say anything about nm.
And would you recommend getting the actinics? Or having all four non actinics? Do i need actinics for certain things?
Thanks very much for the help.