Look into the long-term costs of lighting, you will find bulb replacement cost will usually make MH the cheapest. Plus everyone starts out wanting just softies, then it grows pretty quick, and you wish you went MH off the bat.
Plus if you can do some DIY work, it is even cheaper.
Buy magnetic ballasts ($70 for example for a 250w) and mogul sockets (not sure, $15 maybe) from lighting stores, then buy 20K XM bulbs for $80 from JL Aquatics. Add some wire and some DIY ballast boxes, a reflector and DIY hood with 4" fan for a 2x250w setup your costs are around $475, and your yearly bulb replacement cost is $160.
Then under these lights you can keep softies, LPS, SPS, clams, and anemones.
But to actually answer your questions, yes 2x96w PC will be enough (barely) to keep softies and shrooms, I started off with exactly that over a 3ft 50g.
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