planning lighting for my new tank, advice anyone?

ok so here is the low down:
i am in the planning stages for my new 75 gal set up. its is going to be roughly 20" from top of the water level to top of the sand (40" long tank, odd size so bulb size is another desision to make). i am going to transfer my current corals over ( torch, sun coral, open brains x 3, zoas, button polyps, candy cane, maxima clam, and couple of mushrooms. future corals would be mostly LPS, more clams, hard corals, and mabye SPS if i dont turn my current tank into SPS only). now i am trying to plan my lights, and i am thinking of making my own hood with the lights integraded into it. now i am torn between going with MH and T5s or just straight T5s. All T5s would be easier to wire, but i am not sure if they are going to be enough. if i was to use MH i was think 2-150w and then at least 4 T5s. Is i went all T5s i was think 6 but i am not sure of watts or what size to use. as i said my tank is 40" long and i dont think that 48" would very good. what do you guys think?

 

Well, first of all lighting is a matter of taste. I currently have a 65 gal reef tank with assorted corals (sun coral, leathers, orange tree, mushrooms, purple cracked coral, sea fan, trumpett and cup coral) I have 2 36" T5 retrofit fixtures that are 2x39watt each totals 156 watts I also have a 175watt mogel metal halide. Grand total of 331 watts which works for me and I don't need to pay $500 for a chiller that costs a fortune in electricity. You can easily use 36" retro kits for your 40" canopy. I use ebay for my T5's. Check user buildyouraquarium. He has retro kits for $99.99 and metal halide kits for $150-$299 depending on weather you want 1 or 2 bulbs and in all different wattage. I like the compact sizes he has. My 2x39Watt T5's are only 3.75" wide.
I am going to be selling my tank because I'm getting a 120 gal tank and I ordered an 8x54 T5 retro fixture (432Watts) that is only 13" wide for $324. I'm going to try that out with one of my 2x39 36" T5 fixtures to see if I can go without metal halides. If I need to I'll steal my 175 metal halide and I should be fine but I'd rather not. Chillers are big and they run a whole lot of the time. I would not consider 2 metal halides for a tank that's 40" long but that's just me. There are reefers out there that would dispute what I'm saying but just think about it and then decide.
I have a 36" power compact that is already outdated. I hear that T5's are the big thing now as they are cool and more reasonably priced. I've seen them for about $13 each on line. Hey listen I have to stop myself or I'll go on and on. Let me know what you think?

 

you could go with 4x39watt SLR prewired retrofit kit with icecap ballasts, overdriving your T5s to 60 watts each. reefgeek.com has them

reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/IceCap/

 

using the a chiller is not an option. But at the same time my current tank is running a 150w MH and it keeps the just about right (temp) depending on the temp of the house. that was one reason to turn to the all T5 system, the more i think about the more i think its the way to go. i still have time...

 

I would do 36" T5s, no questions. It will be enough. Or do two 250 MH, with some actinic T5 or 20,000k bulbs. Whats the width of the tank? Honestly with a 40" tank I would do T5s, I have a 24" deep 180 and believe me T5s are enough!!

Happy lighting!

 

now here is another question...how many bulbs and what watts should they be? i was thinking of running 6 bulbs: two actinic @ 39w which would run about 10 hours a day. then two 14k @ 54w, they would run about 8 hr. then two 6k @ 39w which would run about 5 hr.

or should they all just be 39w?

 

Whats the width of the tank?
Then we can tell you how many bulbs you can cram in there!!

Happy lighting!

 

18" but i am not sure how many that would fit. but i guess that will change from brand to brand. the number of bulbs will affect the which wattage i decided on.

i dont even have the stand built yet, but i am chomping at the bit to get this rollin;D

 

All 36" T5's that I've seen are 39 watts. The 48" are 54watts. Below I've attached pictures of my 8x54Watt 48" T5 retrofit. This fixture is awesome for the money. It has 8 moonlights on a dimmer switch. It shines 2 blue actinics for dawn and dusk. Daylight has 4 10K whites and 4 Blue Actinics that is tremendously bright. This baby is only 12 1/8" wide! I think the guy online may have sold a bunch of different size T5 groups. I paid $324 including shipping for this setup. His username is buildyouraquarium on ebay. The first picture is the fixture with flash of the moonlights, the second picture is the 2 blues for dawn and dusk hours (separate switches and chords), the last is all of the lights on for daylight hours. Good luck!

 

I'm sad to say but buildyouraquarium has stopped carrying the retrofit kits. I just pulled out of the box a card for a discount with www.catalinaaquarium.com I went on their website and they are a lot higher in price. I'm sure other deals will come along, I'll let you know if I see them.