$500 to spend on 75G tank lighting

[scwilich]

Anyone care to make some concrete recommendations on best deals currently available?

Can I somehow get two 250W MH pendants for the price? If so, will my lighting be "incomplete" due to no actinic supplements?

Would consider any other suggestions... my basic idea is to get the best and most flexible lighting for a new 75G tank; will begin with less light-loving corals but would like to be able to upgrade and hopefully not throw away all my lights and start over.

Thanks!

 

[bigtank]

I would get an Aqualine Buschke 2x150w aquastarlight. This is what I use on my 70 and I can assure you that it is an awesome system. Very bright (believe me!), top quality, and enough light for anything without costing a fortune or heating up your tank a whole lot. I got mine for $400 at Champion Lighting but they have since raised the price. However, you can get the "shell" which includes the sockets, along with a 2x150w HQI ballast and 2 bulbs for around $460 I think, at the same place.

I am very partial to metal halides, especially HQI. Good luck.

 

[mariner]

I use a PFO dual 250 MH from marine depot on my 90. I don't plan on upgrading my tank size from there. I already went from a 55 to this 90. Thats it for me. The PFO ballast will accept any "K" rating bulb and the 250's are very bright. Depending on how big you will upgrade later....say a 120 or bigger, I would then go with the dual 400's. The price difference is like 10 bucks and with the dual 400's you'll be able to keep any high intensity lighting coral. Remember electricity cost as well. I pay about 8 cents per kilowatt and I leave my lights on 10 hours a day. That cost me about 20-30 bucks a month extra on the bill. Not a significant increase. The more power the more electricity used. Don't worry about heat either. I was told by so may people that MH will raise the temp in your tank 20-30 degrees. That's B.S. I go from 78 in the morning to no higher that 81 at the end of the light cycle. The 400's will get warmer of course. I just use 2 six inch clip on fans from K-Mart that are clipped on to the canopy in back blowing in. The fans are on low and are on the same timer as the lights are. If I turn the fans on high, the temp wont increase at all. I like the temp to increase a little to simulate the natural temp increase of a few degrees in the ocean. So now that I've rambled on.......I'd get the dual 250's up to the 120(long) and anything 120 gallons and bigger, I'd get the 400's. So just consider what you'll upgrade to in the future and go with these figures.

 

[braincoral39]

Check this site out. Might be a good price for you. http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv

 

[tubs]

Look at the various classifieds on various boards. There are some deals of late.