I'd vote aquamedic as well.

Not sure quite how much light you are looking for, but you dont quite need a high intensity light in your tank if you just have the fish and rock. You could do something like 2 x 250 W Halides and then play around with accent lighting for the fish's colouration. If you were going for a dimmer look you could even do just 3x 150W halides, or, use VHO's or a few HO T5's. Just a heads up!

Chris

FOWLR I meant REEF
 

Oops, I meant to put reef tank. Hence the larger amount of watts. I want both soft and hard coral

For actinic suplemation i prefer vho as opposed to pc, never tried t-5 though...that is if you go with 10k bulbs, i think xm 10k's with some vho actinic suplemation is the best (for coral growth and for viewing pleasure)

Then completely disreguard my post!:mrgreen:

I'd definetly consider T5's. They are a great 'low-wattage' option for all your lighting, or just supplemental. I have 2 x 48" T5's.. 10K, and those two alone over my tank are INSANE for light... You want to make sure they are HO(High output) though, and that they are in single bulb reflectors.

Chris

tip
 

Thanks for the tip, Funky. I'll look into it and keep an eye out for high output.

reply
 

I'm curious as to why you want so much light over a FOWLR tank? Do you plan to convert it to a reef later?

Here I think

I have an Aquamedic 3x250 - 2x150 fixture, it's very bright and hot. You will likely need a chiller if you go with that light.

different
 

These are two very different unit: AquaMedic has all MH bulbs and the Aqualight has MH/PC/Moonlights. I think it really comes down to what you want from your lighting.
Several things that I can see right at this moment is if you like atinic supplementing before and after your primary lighting period, you will need to buy additional lighting if you go with the Aquamedic. The same goes if you want moonlight as well.
Whereas the Aqualight seems to have the all in one package.

Also 5 MH bulbs on a 180g is mighty bright and some of your LPS/softies/SPS (brains) may not appreciate the intensity.

If YOU want an all-in-one package with MH/Atinic/Moonlight, the Aqualight is your only choice.
Othewise if you only want MH, Aquamedic is the preferred choice.