lighting suggestions for 36" reef want clams

[spanglish]

I am putting together 36" (either 40g or58g) with refugium(20g)
and want suggestions for light kit appropriate for anemones and
eventually clams. I'm interested in opinions re: T5 vs PC vs Metal
Halide. Moon lights, etc. I like the "look" of the Current USA metal
halides for aquapods. In short, I'm looking for all the bells and whistles
I can get without spending $400.00

[billyr98]

lighting is going to depend on the depth of your tank... are the 40g and 58g the same depths?

[spanglish]

One is 18" the other is 24"

[billyr98]

i would go with T5s then... then you dont need a chiller...
There is plenty of people with beautiful T5 SPS tanks..

Icecap ballast for T5s overfire them... making a 54w T5 lamp actually 80w.. thats what i use

[lcstorc]

mh or t5 for sure for those inhabitants.
I have mh and have never tried t5 but lots of people with great reefs have them so they must be good.

[Warnberg]

The key to T5's is to overdrive them as mentioned above and the reflectors, individual reflectors.... Also your choice in bulbs is key to par and color. I have run nothing but T5's for 18 months now and have had decent results, however I am now going to halides as I am not impressed with the coloration I am getting on my SPS's or my blue maxima clam.

[SueT]

if you are wanting to keep clams eventually, I would go with halides. Some are keeping clams with these T5's but for the lasting health of the higher lighting clams, T. crocea and T. maxima{not the gold patterned} they really need the intensity of the halides. I'd try 250w halides, but for a 36" tank you might even think of going with 1 400w. For clams the 10k is the best spectrum.

[TDEVIL]

Originally Posted by spanglish

In short, I'm looking for all the bells and whistles
I can get without spending $400.00

there is a dream for all of us, lol

are you going to be making your own canopy or buying a plug and play unit?
going the diy way will save you $$$, if your not really handy then the plug and play unit might be the way to go and is a bit more expensive, im sure you know this by now

i would go w/ the 250w DE (double ended) halides for the 24" depth and 150w DE for the 18" depth and for a 3' tank you would need 2 because in general MH only cover a 2'x2' area, you can use just one and plan your scaping around this and it would be fine, your choice

Jay

[mps9506]

I used 2x250watt single ended halides in a 36" pfo parallel reflector on my 40 gallon reef. When I was setting it up there weren't as many DE bulbs available. If I were to do it now, I would go with 2 double ended pendants as I am very impressed with some of the bulb choices out there, and I like the simplicity of running two hanging pendants.

The 36" parallel reflector, 2 250watt ballasts, sockets, and wiring was a relatively inexpensive setup.Probably $200-$250. Of course with the bulbs add anohter $100-$200 depending on your bulb choice.