question on the right lighting

[hobbyguy]

hello to all
this is my first post as a new member

i have been reading a lot and still a little confused
on lighting i have a 60 gallon tall and 24 inch, deep 13 1/4 wide reef tank
my question is i have a 48 coralife 260 watt pc w/lunar light fixture now with my corals but want to to upgrade to a better light for some harder corals and poss a calm which would be better to incorporate in to my wood hood now as i would like to keep this look metal halide pc combo or the t5 vho option or
air flow is not a problem as i have 2 fans for intake & 2 outs that are built into the fixture now plus i run an extra 10 in fan for extra cooling that is incorporated into the ends of wood hood my light actual sits on tank with legs now with hood over top of them and wood is wide open on top this was where my glass tops where witch i don't run now any help on this would be great watt,style,brand , etc thanks for letting me join a great forum and i would like to say hello again to every one the forum is great the topics and pics are great also thnks and happy reefing :sfish:

 

[Bifferwine]

For a 24 inch deep, I would go with halides, especially if you want a clam (which usually sit on the bottom). T5s don't penetrate as well as halides and lose a lot of their power any deeper than 18 inches. As for brand, I'm sorry I can't help you much there, as I've never done retrofit lights.

 

[Piggy]

Welcome to the reef. I agree MH are the way to go with a deep tank. Reef is great at giving advice on which lights to get. I'm sure he'll be able to help.

 

[hobbyguy]

i appreciate the info you guys are great
yes i figured halide would be the way to go i was just wondering wasn't to sure about t5 lights also which would be best for this size tank 175,250.300 or more watts fo halide my lps manager was trying to get me to buy this new coralife pc/metal halide light at cost since i buy so much from him its a nice light but i don't want to cook stuff not sure the watts but can find out but would like the best light for the bang around 500 to 600 dollars from him also this would not be a retro light fac. light only other thing is don't want to hang light and he said they have legs for this light would i still be able to use wood hood or would this be to hot for hood the light has built in ballast and fans i think there where 6 fans 3in 3 out nice guy at the lps but still felling him out just dont trust yet as they are in it to sell only but he did offer it to me at cost so may not be to bad of a guy

 

[reeffreak]

A T5-HO retro such as the Tek with Icecap reflectors will penetrate 24'' deep tank fine.Look at getting at least 6 bulbs with it.

2 250w Icecap MH retro kit will work fine as well.Go with 14k bulbs or higher if your planning on running no actinics.The best combo would be the Icecap MH retro/2 bulb T5-HO Tek retro together.

Most complete fixtures will not fit inside a canopy.You can email or call Reefgeek.com. for those options or maybe another one.

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