Starting up 75 gal SW tank

[thelinds]

Okay, so my roommate and I decided we wanted to do a salt water fish tank in the house we're renting next year. We happened to go into the local fish store that was moving, and ended up buying a 75 gallon tank with stand and a 150 gal wet/dry filter system for $200 (its what they had used as a coral tank in the store, but didn't need it at the new store.)

I'm looking at getting this project rolling in the summer, and plan on having some soft and hard coral, live rock, and a few fish (including a lion fish). The question is, what kind of lighting do you suggest? I prefer to have something with the lunar lights on it. I had planned on possibly suspending the lighting from the cieling, or just using the legs (no full hood). What's the minimum number of lights/watts and what not.

Help is greatly appreciated!

Oh, and if it affects your advice any, we're both college students, so spending $1000 on lighting probably isn't in the realm of possibilities.

Thanks!!!

 

[flamingonhot]

Im not positively sure but I think metal halide might be the only way to go with hard corals. Maybe vho, I actually find that a lot of vho units are actually more than mh. I don't know a lot about the lighting part of sw so im not much help on that one.

What fish are you planning on getting other than the lion? What type of lion?

 

[Brenden]

The amount of light all depends on the specific corals you want to keep. I really hate the watts per gallon rules because I think they are useless but you will hear 5 watts per gallon will allow you to keep anything. You can keep mushrooms and other low light corals with half the light. A lion fish in a reef tank is not a good idea. They probably will not harm your corals but they are messy eaters and you will be fighting a losing battle trying to keep nitrates at a safe level for corals. They will also eat any fish in your tank they can fit in their mouth. Cheapest thing would probably be 2 mh retro kits and a DIY moonlight kit.