60 gal looking for some advise

I have both fish and coral I will be getting more coral not sure what yet. Right now im running about (220w total 2 white to blue) compact florusent. one of the balasts are goign out the antic lights flicker on and off from time to time. thinking of up grading my lighting my dad (who i really got into the hobbie) is giveing me his metal halide but i belive what he is giving me is way too much for my tank. it only have about a month of use on it then stored away. altogether it is maybe 4 months old. you can see a pic of my tank in the fish tank fourm. or if your interested in the metal halide let me know ill be getting more details on the light next time i go to his house. i belive it is a 250w not sure. but i will say this the thing is bright and the bulb itself is about 8inches long

 

ok so what advise are you looking for???/

 

just wondering what to do. should i just up grade to a t5 set up or just replace the balast in the cf fixture. or should i be looking into a metal helide set up. dont really have a lot of cash at the moment but i have a orbit light im borrowing for the time being but need to return it in a couple of weeks. what are some pros and cons of the different setup's. i rather get advise from people who have it up and running and have seen the differences. rather than reading about them in a book and the sales people at the different stores. i bet you can guess what they all say lol!

 

Seems awful hard to get TOO much light in a tank, you know how bright the sun is??? I would use the MH you father gave you and spend the other money on some Actinics. Just put the MH about 10 to 12" away from the water and you should be fine. It will at least save you some money, free lights are always the best.;D

 

400watt MH wont that be a little much for a 60gal tank. plus the 120watts actinic lighting total of 520 watts. that gives me about 8.7 watts per gallon. i thought the rule of thumb was about 4 to 5 watts per gallon?

 

Nope just keep it up off the water so as not to boil it and get a good bulb I ran 2 250's and 2 30 inch VHO's on a 40 gallon. But it was full of corals though.. 3x60 equals 180 and we have a 180 now with 3 400's and I may add to 175's to compensate for that Ocanic glass divider in the middle. Also we have 2 6ft VHO at 165 watts ea.