Lighting upgrade

If I was to start anew with my lighting, what would you recommend?
My DT is ~250L and 55cm deep.
My livestock is still pretty minimal as a result of an angry Mother Nature, but I plan on keeping whatever corals my Emperor Angel won't eat - so pretty much SPS and a few softies.
The tank is currently lit by 150W of CF 6500K and 44W of CF actinics, but I realise that is unlikely to put out enough light for SPS corals.
Any thoughts? I would like to keep costs down as much as possible, but I do realise this is reef keeping so "cheap" is still anything but!
If this was your tank, what sort of lighting arrangement would you put? The more detail the better.
Thanks!

 

I would get a 4 bulb T5HO fixture, buy 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs, 1 ATI Aquablue Special bulb and ATI Purple Plus bulb. Make sure the fixture has individual reflectors.

 

I would do 4 T5s as mentioned above, those are good bulb choices but perhaps an LED actinic strip?

 

So you wouldn't go for MHs on a tank like this? It seems I can get second-hand MH ballasts and fittings cheaper than T5

 

That would be because the hobby is shifting towards T5 and LED instead of MH.

 

Are the reasons for this biologically legitimate? That is, other than heat, power consumption etc?

 

Customizing light spectra produced is far easier with T5HO and LED. T5HO has proven to be effective and LED are catching up they just don't have the track record yet.

 

if you can swing the cash leds would be my choice.building it yoursellf will save alot of greenbacks.