55 gal reef lighting CLUELESS

[apelaston]

okay I have a 55 gal sw tank that I am wanting to go reef with. I have the option of using two 24" lights or one big light. I also could hang them somehow --whatever I need to do I spose.

I am wanting to keep just softies, mushrooms, palys, zoos, leathers, and would love to end up with a brain at one point as well as an anemone for a pair of clowns.(yes I know they don't need it, but hey why not.) Anyways I am not interested in doing hard stoney corals besides the brain....and I am not 100% what that is classified as.

Can you give me your opinions on what I should get for my tank? I am not afraid of DIY either so let me know if I can get around spending 500.00 on my lights if I make em myself. in a canopy or something.

Right now I have 2 24" Compact flourescent marine aquarium light. Has 1 420/450 nm actninic blue and 1 12,000 K daylight. 65 watts each for a total of 130 watts. Has 4 LED blue moon lights and 2 built in cooling fans.

Could I use these fixtures and get different bulbs to be able to do what I want to do? HELP HELP HELP:help:

[Miss my puffer]

I have a 55 reef that started off with 2 96 watt pcs (192 watts total). I thought that it would work well, but ended up getting rid of it and going with a 250 watt metal halide and 2 96 watt pcs (my tank is only 3 ft long). If you are already thinking about anemones and hard corals you might want to look at metal halide as well. I got mine from aquatraders.com http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=333 The prices are good, the stuff works well,but it is not close to the top of the line (I plan on upgrading the mh ballast with an ice cap sooner or later) and it is very wide (make sure it will fit on your tank or get the hanging kit and hang it for the ceiling or something). It is a nice starter piece and if you are willing to do the work you can always upgrade the ballasts later and make the unit better. If you don't want metal halide, you could go with with some t5 HO lights with individual reflectors. Hope this helps you out.

[Sploke]

Yeah, I have 4x65w over my 55gal, and I wish I had gone MH or at least T5. If you're after an anemone, you'll probably just want to go MH. Unfortunately there's not much you can do to get around spending $$$$ for a decent fixture. If you check out reefcentral's classifieds, you might be able to score a slightly used one for a good deal. Unfortunately the fixture you have won't be enough to much, even in the way of soft corals.

The PFO Solaris fixtures are super-nice as well, albeit $$$$$$$$. However, if you look at Total Cost of Ownership, they end up being substantially cheaper after you factor in the higher power usage of MH as well as the bulb replacement cost every 9-12 months.

[lanimret]

Not to thread jack, but don't want to start a whole nother thread.

Never worked with PC lights before, my big tank has all T-5's. I picked up a 40 gallon and am planning on setting it up a few months down the line probably for seahorses. No hard corals obviously, no anemone's. Would a 2 x 65w PC light system be adaquate for that situation? Or should I hold off and look for a more powerful system. Money is an issue, but as I said I am not setting this up for a few months and I just happen to find a decent deal for that light system.

[apelaston]

Got my light today for $50.00 from a local reefer. 4x65w JBJ unit.