Hello again, round 2! 3r33fers opinons por favor

I've about exhausted myself poring over different light ideas. I think i've finally got to the end of my rope/time and believe this may be my best option, marineandreef.com/ Reef Aquarium Supply (Aquarium Lighting, Coralife light, Aquarium Light, Power Compact, Compact Fluorescent, Metal Halide Lights, Aquarium Chillers, Aquarium Pumps, Coralife lighting, UV Sterilizer, Reef Aquarium, Current USA AquaP

Again, I've a 110 that's 60"long, 19" tall and deep with a canopy. I've soft corals (mushrooms, kenya, zo's) that are doing great, but I'd like to upgrade to lighting to where I've more options available. I currently have 4x65w PC's w/lunars in a fixture that I want to get rid of. I like the kit I listed above primarily because it includes everything I'd need, ie. MH, actinics, lunars and a fan.

Any thoughts or things I should consider before taking the plunge? Thank you in advance!

 

If you have the money to swing why not go ATI or Tek....that is a nice lighting set but ATI being number one from what I have learned so far or go Tek...Either way Good Luck
Danny

 

If you're going to upgrade I wouldn't go with the cheaper options IMO or you might end up upgrading again in 6 months. The cheaper retros/fixtures generally don't have as high a quality of reflectors/ballasts/bulbs. I don't have any personal experience with the fixture you linked but it's a lot of stuff for the money which makes me mistrust it.

Also you may end up with dim ends of the tank since your lighting doesn't cover the full width, you're OK with that?

I'm a fan of T5 retros personally so take my opinion with a grain of salt. ;D
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/AquaIllumination/Miro-4_Retrofit_Kits/

 

I agree with screwtape, T5's have several benefits over MH's, check out Pharmrjohns tank. He upgraded frome CF's to T5's and has some GREAT LOOKING coral. Go to the end of the thread, around page 50 I think...

http://http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/pharmrjohns-90g-thread-52614.html

 

There is no sense buying a fixture with PCs anymore as they are slowly being phased out anyhow... Even ESU is replacing their PCs in the MH combo fixtures with T5s.
You have a few things you can do, 60" T5s which would fit perfectly and a retro can be made cheaply and fairly easily. At 19" tall the T5s will give you GREAT PAR values all the way to the sand allowing you if you so choose to grow stags and other SPS from the sand bed.
What is the width of the tank?
Also if you want something different you could do a MH/T5 combo and the nice thing is with the 60" length you could get away with 2 MH lamps if you use large enough reflectors... That will save you big time $$ not only initially but with energy costs and lamp replacement.

It is in your best interest to plan on having the lights for a while so do not skimp. BUT on that note, as good as ATI is I wouldn't necessarily recomend running out and buying one, they are a little pricey and a retro or an American made fixture will be just as good.

 

i would suggest maybe an 8 bulb tek, t5 fixture. i almost always suggest t5 because of the energy savings.. atleast for me

 

well...I guess I'm a 'suckah' because I went ahead and got the setup I'd mentioned above. :-/ The $499 for that setup was way under what the normal pricing was before. It ran between $600-700. I think trying to figure out lighting has been one of the most difficult things to figure out for this tank! Now I'm onto filtration... Thank ya'll for your input and I hope the setup that arrives Monday will work out ok for me. Do two MH 150W HQI 10000k (add 2x96wPC) take a lot of electricity to run? Man, now I'm worrying about power load out of the wall socket Wonder how much more this setup will use vs the 4x65wCF I've been using?!

 

It will use significantly more energy than your current setup. My only concern is that two 150w MH aren't a lot for a 110 gallon tank, but at least it's not that deep. Lighting is very hard to choose and a lot is personal preference and budget. Hopefully that setup will turn out well for you.