Lighting for 90G FOWLR

[Land]

My tank has been down for a few years, and needs new lighting before anything else really.

What can I get away with for a FOWLR? One of my LFS recommended a Truelumen Pro single 48" strip, they have one on a 120G fish-only but think it looks dark (obviously my 90 is smaller so not an apples to apples comparison).

Or a dual (or quad?) T5 HO fixture? Not having bulbs to replace would be kind of nice, though.

I made the (probably bad) choice of going with one of those Chinese 250w x2 metal halide systems last time, which worked for about 3 years. It'd be nice to have the option of doing corals again at some point, but not if I'm trying to keep it under $300 while avoiding the eBay/Aquatraders stuff.

 

[minkin]

For a fowlr you can use any light. As you don't have corals.

It depends what you want your tank to look like (different color lights, white/blue etc) whether you go for fluorescent, metal halide, T5 or LED's.

Personally I like LED's as they give off great light and use less energy than other light fixtures.

Even though an LED light fixture may be a higher starting cost you won't have to replace the lights as often as using T5's for example, and they use less power.

 

[Land]

Yeah, my main concern isn't getting something bright enough for the fish/live rock - but for me. I've heard differing opinions from two different LFS how much LED lighting would be acceptable for my own enjoyment, and even whether a 2x 54w T5 HO fixture would be anything more than barely acceptable.

And the danger there is spending $100+ more to get the LEDs and then realize they still aren't bright enough. It's just hard to know when looking at stuff in a fish store, when there are no setups directly comparable to my tank - not to mention theirs being exposed to a LOT more ambient light.

 

[minkin]

If you see a light that you want it might be worth typing it into YouTube and seeing if there are any videos on them while they are set up on tanks. That way you might be able to see what they look like set up.