125G Reef setup

[mfutao]

So browsing craigslist for liverock I came across a 125G complete reef setup with a tonn of live rock for abit more than I was planning on spending on the live rock itself. Its a 72" tank so not very deep.

The lights that came with it though I am thinking are going to pose issues with some coral that require high light intensity. This fits with the reading I've done on reef lighting but I wanted to be sure and get some feedback from you seasoned experts.

The lights are power compacts. I believe.

Coralife 36 Inch Aqualight With 1-96W Actinic / 1-96W 10,000K Lamp Square Pin Base (with fans)


This puts me at a total of 384W, half of which is at 10,000K. Although I read on a site which are selling the lights they are good for reef tanks. This seems like a low amount of light.

The reading I had done put my estimation of the watts I would need for 125G at around 450w.

Any thoughts/insight/recommendations?

 

[Mitchell0605]

Metal Halides. The best you can get. Alternativley you could get some T5s. I only have Actinics but my tank is small and shallow.

 

[mfutao]

Whenever I see Metal Halides they dont seem to run the length of the tank like T5's or PC's. How does that work?

Metal Halides. The best you can get. Alternativley you could get some T5s. I only have Actinics but my tank is small and shallow.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Usually you would have them hang over the tank, about 1ft above. Is the tank a 6ft? If so then you can have three spaced over the tank, hanging. The strength of the globes is enough so that you can have the space above the tank and inbetween the globes with no probs.

 

[thominil]

IMO, those PC's are useless. I have PC myself and I wish I went with T5 HO or MH. Generally, retailers will say anything to promote a product just to sell it, so you can't always believe what they say. Try a T5 HO setup like this one:

72" 12x39W Nova Extreme PRO T5HO 3x10k/3x460nm Actinics by Current USA*(1082) - AquaCave

It should allow you to keep anything you want.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Thom's right. T5's will allow you to keep pretty much every coral apart from the ones that need super intense light. Plus T5's won't generate as much heat as MH's. But it's your decision. Personally, I would go the MH's. That's just me though.

 

[mfutao]

Thanks for the info - I'm gonna keep a look on the local craigslist for metal halides I've a good few months before I setup because its going into a wall I still have a bunch of work to do on to accommodate everything.

Thom's right. T5's will allow you to keep pretty much every coral apart from the ones that need super intense light. Plus T5's won't generate as much heat as MH's. But it's your decision. Personally, I would go the MH's. That's just me though.

 

[melosu58]

Remember the MH`s have a 24 inch footprint. Three will cover your whole tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

just an fyi, somebody is selling some mh's on here and just dropped the price... might wanna check out the classifieds forum if craigslist isnt helping you out any