what type of lights to get

[fishguyxd]

I am not sure what type of lighting I should get with a new setup I was looking at the coralife brand at big Al's the light strip has small fans for cooling and are of flor type bulbs any opinions or am i wasting my $$$
{48 inchlong} I want to have nice color in the tank when all setup i will have reef/fish tankin a 72 gal but don't know what type of bulbs i should use white or blues how many? I have not reserched the lighting the lighting problem out yet I seen on a site where there was comparing different lights out i thought i would ask here too.

[Aquattro]

Answering your questions is like telling you what kind of car to drive. Really, only you can decide. Try to look around at other's tanks to see what white, blue and combinations of bulbs look like. You'll also need to know what type of animalw you'll be keeping, as that will influence what type of light you buy.
So, first figure out what you plan to keep and then you can figurewhat type of bulb. THEN you worry about the colors of bulbs!! :razz:

[corper]

T5

[Aquattro]

T5

Why?

[kuatto]

I agree with Brad,make a list of livestock and corals you are planning on keeping and then choose your lighting.You can also save money if you diy on the lighting or at least get help from fellow reefers(lots of diy'ers here in Edmonton :mrgreen: ).

[StirCrazy]

T5

why not say VHO then thats all T5 is, it is a new version of the VHO that takes up less space and is more efficient. so by saying T5 with out knowing the depth of his tank or what he plans to keep you could have contributed to a bad purchase that will have to be upgraded later depending on the circumstances.

what I am going to recommend is take a look at what you want in the long run, how deep your tank will be, what kinda corals, etc. if you have a shorter tank, 18" or less, you could get away with VHO, PC or T5 with good success. as to which one VHO, PC or T5 see what is available and more reasonably priced the out put of these three bulbs is comparable.

If you decide to go more with anemone, Clams, and SPS now you are getting into MH country. the VHO, PC, and T5 will work but you will have to have everything real high up close to the light and it doesn't leave much room for creativity.

for MH options you have basically 3, 250 watt MH, 250 watt HQI and 400 watt. under 24" tall tank normal 250 watt MH will work but if you want to go serious with light you can step up to the 400 watt MH or the 250 watt HQI. I use the 250 watt HQI with mogal bulbs in my tank, softies still grow, SPS love it etc.. so don't let anyone tell you that it is to much light. I have mushrooms growing 12" under the bulb like mad, everything likes light... it just needs time to get used to it.

Steve