Lighting opinions please

[GCamp13]

Since I don't understand all I know about lighting and corals, I'm throwing some questions I have out for discussion. My first tank is a 75 gallon, 48 inch tank. Corals that I have in it are Zoa's, Musgrooms, Xenia, Tree Leather, Kenya Tree, Yellow Polyps and Button Polyps. I also have some Frogspawn, Duncans, and some Acan Frags. Planning to add some Ricordea Mushrooms, Toadstool and maybe a Chili Coral. What lighting would you recommend? Halides? T5's? Compacts? Also how much light?

Second tank will be a 20 gallon long tank setup as a frag tank. Pretty much the same corals and maybe a birdsnest and a few other SPS.

All opinions appreciated.

 

[Bifferwine]

T5 or metal halide would be great for a 75 gallon. If you go with T5s, you want to get at least 6 bulbs. For MH, two 150 watt lamps would do it.

For the 20 gallon, T5 or MH would be the way to go as well.

 

[GCamp13]

Thanks for response, do you like one over the other?

 

[Bifferwine]

For tanks that size, I prefer T5. Many people like the shimmering effect that MH creates, and won't use anything else. It's personal preference -- both work equally well.

 

[Reef Nutz]

For tanks that size, I prefer T5. Many people like the shimmering effect that MH creates, and won't use anything else. It's personal preference -- both work equally well.

MH for the shimmer. Have had both, you can't beat the water shimmering.

 

[Dana42078]

T5 for the 75 and LED on the 20g jus my 2 cents.

 

[Dana42078]

T5 or metal halide would be great for a 75 gallon. If you go with T5s, you want to get at least 6 bulbs. For MH, two 150 watt lamps would do it.

For the 20 gallon, T5 or MH would be the way to go as well.

Depends on the T5 fixture....48" ATI 6 bulb fixture is recomended for "Common Sizing Guideline: soft coral tanks up to 160 gallons, mixed reef tanks up to 130 gallons and SPS dominated tanks up to 110 gallons. Recommended Tank Depth: up to 30" with carefully planned placement of corals."

With the 48" 4 bulb ATI fixture Common Sizing Guideline: soft coral tanks up to 110 gallons, mixed reef tanks up to 85 gallons and SPS dominated tanks up to 70 gallons. Recommended Tank Depth: up to 30" with carefully planned placement of corals. Power Consumption: approximately 216 Watts.

Thats one reason i stayed with 4 bulbs instead of going 6. I woulda melted my corals with 6. My sps is growing great with 4 bulbs but like i said depends on the fixture.:Cheers:

 

[Northstar24]

Its probably a matter of preference, but it is possible to beat the shimmer of Halides with a quality LED setup. My AI's have a much cleaner shimmer than my haildes did. For a 4 ft tank, you could go with T5's or MH's as stated, but you could also look into LED's, but the up front cost for those will be higher than MH or T5's. What is your budget?