Help Me choose my new Halide Lighting

I have been doing alot of research and have not yet decided on my new lighting. I know i want halide lights. I have a 72 Gallon Bowfront. It is 4 feet wide and 20 inched to the sand bed.

I have several LPS and a few SPS but want to start adding montipora.

I have seen 2 main light systems i would like but i can build my own.

Here are a couple of my thoughts.

48" 4 ft Metal Halide Aquarium Reef Marine Light 760 W - eBay (item 290444333332 end time Jul-11-10 13:56:15 PDT)

Marineland Marine Series Pro Metal Halide Fixture 2X150W HQI & 4X54W T5, 48 inch

Please add any other items you know of.

 

I would not get the ebay one - on principle & because it runs PC's. PC are not very good at all.
I almost got the Hamilton system Belize:
Belize Sun HQI + T5 + LED Light Fixtures by Hamilton Technology

Also Sunlight Supply is good too:
MARISTAR 48" 2x250W HQI & 2x54W T5 Combo Fixture by Sunlight Supply - AquaCave

Or the Icecap system: Icecap is always good stuff:
IceCap 48" Reef Illuminations 2 x 250W Metal Halide, T5 & LED Aquarium Lght Fixture - AquaCave

 

If you have a Canopy, retro would be a great idea as well. If you do that, Lumenmax reflectors are awesome, but take up a ton of space.

 

I have the Marineland fixture... it is very nice and built with quality. only complaint i had was the stock bulbs are not as nice as some of the high end bulbs like phoenix, ushio, radium, and SPS

Personally, I would recommend going with the lumenmax or lumenbrite reflectors, some icecap ballasts, and a nice bulb...

 

I had this tread set up as a poll with alot of choices. but when i was puting in the choices the page closed. Does anyone know how i can go back and set up the poll in this thread?

Dingo didnt you just win yours. What bulbs came with it?

 

edit > advanced > then i think you can edit it there

and yes, I did win them... it came with two 150w 14k DE marineland halides (they look more like 11k bulbs though) and all four t5's are actinics. the led's are high output like 1 or 3 watt ones and they have a slight spotlight effect but none-the-less they are verry nice for moonlights!

heres the pic heavy thread of the fixture
http://www.3reef.com/forums/2010-3reef-diy-video-contest/marineland-light-90595.html

 

I could customize a canopy. I was thinking abput the icecap halide combo from marine depot. I know i want 4 T5's. The PC are ideal because of the low price. I currently have a PC fixture no halide's.

 

Be careful with Lumenmax Reflectors. They take up a lot of room! (I am having problems placing 2xt5's because they're so big)
I run an Icecap ballast with PFO pendant (like it, it overdrives the bulb about 25 watts) and a Lumatek ballast with Lumenmax. Adjustable output, runs at 250, but you can overdrive it with the HQI setting to 275 watts.

Also take care when switching your lighting - PC's are not that intense.

 

i have the exact light you seen on ebay and from the same seller.and i got it for my 72 bowfront also. if you have any problems he takes care of them.
i had a power compact bulb that was not working he sent me 2 extras free. it works pretty good but if i ever have any mh ballast go bad i will replace them with icecaps, the plugs are the same on the mh ballast cords. i know some people say that power compact bulbs aren't as good as t5's but there pretty good i had 2 48" 4x65wfixtures stagard on my 125g and they worked good for what i had in it .. you can see some pics of that tanks setup on my profile pics.

now i would say the marineland is a better quality fixture. but why not look on ebay and find the current usa company auctions. they have 2x150's and 2x250's for like 200.00 they gareentee them.i would go with the 2x250mh and just get a ballast for t5' and add them if you going to have a canopy i do not have a canopy i like the open air flow.
http://cgi.ebay.com/48-SunPod-2x250...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41508e6298

 

How do you take a Metal halide balast and convert it to run 4 T5 lights. 54 watt t5's