Halides for 150 gal. tank

[badbetty34]

I have had so many different shops tell me what halide set up to use for a 150 gal. saltwater reef tank I am setting up. Because of the height (29") I know I need stronger bulbs - but also want the blue and moonlight - I have seen online HQI lights that have 250 watt bulbs - but can't seem to find them in stores - anyone have any info?

Also - is there any difference in using RO water to start out the tank with just live rock versus tap water & salt additive since I will be cycling the tank for quite a while?

 

[electrikat]

MH 1 bulb per 2 feet of tank length. 3 to 5 wpg or more. YOu can either use mh10,000k with some actinic blue flourescent, or you can use 14,000k or 20,000k and you won't need the blues. The moon lights are a matter of preference and can be added seperately.
RO vs tap is a matter of some debate. Depends on the condition of your tap water. Most people on here do not like or use tap water, but I do. Your choice.

 

[Thumper]

I have a 150 and I'm running 3 250 watt mh, the two outer are 10000k and the center is 14000k along with 440 watts of actinic lighting just for good measures. I recently added the 14000k bulb to the center of the tank just to see what it looked like but honestly in my oppinion the 10000k with actinic lighting is the way to go, I like the bright shimmering water of the 10000k bulbs and the actinic bulbs brighten everything up over the blue water look of the 14000k. I'm up right at 8 watts per gallon which is an overkill but I can move things around inside the tank to accomadate whatever I want.
Iwould say get you 3 mh retro kits and some sort of vho for actinic and go with it. One bonus of going with the actiniclighting is you can light up the tank for dawn/dusk looks. Everyone has their personal favorite way to do things but i know this is an expensive purchase and you want to do it right the first time.
I can say I'm perfectly happy with my set up and have no regrets and I purchased all my stuff through Captivereefs which is a sponser to this site with great results.