Lights for my tank????

Heat has to be a consideration,whats your local climate like and how cool do you normally keep your house? If the added heat from halides forces you to use a chiller the added cost has to be considered also.

 

well my house is usually 70-74 degrees. during the summer. and about 60 during winter.

 

i gaved him another call and he offered me another set of lights which are 2 lights of 250watts and something else( metal....halides?) for 850.. he said that its only 2 foot short for the tank but it will work just fine.??

my tank is going to be a mixed reef.

 

If your going with halides your going to want at least 3 over a 6' tank and maybe some supplemental actinics. Again, putting lights together yourself (opposed to buying a fixture) will be a little more work, but in the end you will have a better quality lighting setup for less money.

~Will.

 

check out fishneedit.com click on the link that says mh - t5 combonations. they are much cheaper and are a pretty good quality from what i have heard.

 

You can check out this and decide from there.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/t5s-q-54866.html

 

With an ambient room temp that cool heat shouldnt be an issue,I use halide lighting and as long as my house is below 78 my tank temp ranges from 78-81.

 

I agree with the minimal MH along with T5 combination. I have an old 48" Coralife Pro fixture that houses 2-150's & 2-96w PC's. Its done very well for me. Of course, probably not as efficient as all the new high end stuff out these days, but its still kicking!!
Why don't you slow down a bit and take some advice from these guys? Look into the retro kits and set it up yourself with a canopy & all. They look really sharp & some of the other guys will give you a hand, I'm sure. Look into it. I'm sure you'll save lots of $$$. :-/