60 gal reef lighting

[Malikai]

Ok, so I've been reading through past threads until I can't see straight, as well as talking to people about different lighting options. I'm planning on setting up a 60 gal. reef tank, and was told halides would "burn" corals and some sensitive anemones, because it's so shallow. Here's what seems to me would be the best and most cost-effective solution. Would like opinions on these, and hopefully someone on here has them already...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113175

[Bear]

That particular fixture would be a bad idea because of its lack of individual reflectors. When looking for a T5HO set up you always need Individual reflectors and fans.

[leveldrummer]

how deep is your tank? what are the dimensions? mh's wont burn the corals, it might take a bit of getting used too, but they will adjust, and you can go with lower wattage lights too, but t5's would make a great setup as well, but like bear said, get individual reflectors. or look into 150w or 175w mh's

[Malikai]

The dimensions are: 48x15x18.5 (LxWxH). It just looked like a similar (if not the same setup) that a lfs in Vegas told me would be perfect. So what, I can add reflectors to the inside? It looks to me like in the blown up pic that it's got a reflector surrounding all of the lights. You'll have to explain it to me like I'm a moron, I'm just starting to learn about them....

[leveldrummer]

18 inches isnt too shallow for mh's, they would do fine if thats the route you wanna go, as for individual reflectors, each bulb has its own little reflector that clips onto it, and it helps the par out immensly, (par is the amount of light that goes into the tank) set ups without them have much less usable light making it down to the corals, and kinda makes the t5's useless. (not useless, but why spend the money if powercompacts or vho's will do the same thing) so look for a 4 bulb set up with the right reflectors, or get 2 150 or 175w mh's. do you have a canopy for your tank?

[Malikai]

Hmmm...everywhere I've seen so far though, I can't find only 150 or so watts for MH for a 48" hood. It's like 4 times that much (and 4 times the price!). I figured going into it that I'd spend about $700-800 for lights. After talking with people about the T5HO's it kinda got my hopes up that I'd only be in the $300-$400 range which would make everything come together that much sooner. (Hey, I've got ALOT of hobbies, gotta spread my funds around to get all of my fixes! haha) I've put money down on a black oak stand and canopy for this 60 gal. Only like $100 just so they'd hold it for me. Why, does that change things towards the lighting?

[Bear]

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...bs_by_ReefGeek

This is what u want and where u wanna buy it from, there prices seem a little higher than others but thats because they include the bulbs of your choice!

With these you would also need to put a fan on both left and right sides of the canopy you have set aside or else the bulbs will burn pretty quickly

[Malikai]

Something's up with that page. It's sssssooooo tiny! I had to copy and paste everything just to see what it said. Is this happening on your computer too, or is something messed up with my settings?

[Malikai]

And I honestly don't want to wire everything myself, and purchase moonlights seperately, fans, etc.

[Fishboy93]

I bought a 250 Watt MH off ebay for my 29. It's hanging from the ceiling. Hasn't burnt up anything that I own...

[leveldrummer]

the canopy makes a huge difference, you can get 2 retro 175's, screw them into your canopy yourself, t5's can be very hard to wire, but mh's are nothing, them may even come wired, it would be the cheapest route to go, look for retro kits, with everything included. you can get your same light setup for way cheaper, and it will actually fit in the canopy. (some of the all in one units may NOT fit in a canopy)