light options for 45 gal

[adamt]

Hi guys im new to the forum and was hoping you all could help me out.

first off here are the details:

45 gallon tank (kinda akward size but its what I have)
I'd like to do some zoo's/ mushrooms at the bottom
I'd really like some montipora higher up in the tank
along with some alveopora and similiar lps

I'm kinda low on cash at the momment so I'd like to use lighting i already have so here are my two options:
option 1- 2x96 watt 36" pc's 1- 10,000k 1-dual actinic

option 2- 4x21 watt regular t5's (2 actinics, 2 colormax full spec?) and 1x96w coralife pc in 10,000k

I think i would get better light output from option two although the wattage would be slightly less. I know pc's are old news but I had lps and anenomes unders pc's for years and they thrived lol it seems like now that theres something newer pc's suck all of a sudden.

option one would give me 192w with two bulbs
option two would give me 180w with 5 bulbs
either option would require the pc fixture(s) to be on legs in order to fit

plse help me out guys

 

[motortrendz]

whats the dimensions on the tank?? id go t5 but maybe the 54watt bulbs..

 

[adamt]

the tank is only 12 inches wide its 12wx36lx24h i asked the question the way i did because all of the lights mentioned i have lying around. If theres no way either one of those options i mentioned before would work ill bite the bullet and spend 200 bucks on two odyssea 150w pendants each one has 1x150w 15,000 hqi and two 14w actinic t5's but personally i feel like 356w on a 45 gallon tank is gonna be overkill. Unfortunately the tank has a center brace so one centered hqi is out of the question

 

[motortrendz]

yup... i wouldnt go with the metal halides... but def t5's bc oyu can use the nicer bulbs for the best coloring.. the 12" doesnt really matter but the 24in deep is what u need to pay atention to..you need enough light to penetrate the waters depth.. im not 100% sure how to figure the watts per gallon for corals but i know someone does..

 

[adamt]

yeah im thinking im gonna use the two coralife 2x21w t5 strips and 1x96w coralife pc seems like the best use of the 12" i have to work with. I think the best light config i can come up is two 21w true actinics, 2 colormax full spec 21w (350-750 nanometers), and 10,000k 96 watt pc. that should give me a pretty good spectrum and with three seperate switches I should be able to do a nice dawn/midday/dusk light schedule. the only thing i might change is the colormax bubls and go with two 20,000k 21w bulbs if i can find them or go 1 actinic and 1 10,000k in the second t5 fixture. I dont think it could handle acros but i think the 5 bulbs at 180 watts will give me enough light to do softs down low and some lps or maybe an lta a little higher up. I know anenomes move, but i had a lta for 6 years that never left its rock (i think it liked the deep hole its base was in). The anenome is still going strong in the same rock at a friends house bigger than a dinner plate 12 years later

 

[UnknownWaters]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but i would scrap the PC's and the low output T5's not enough for a 24 inch high tank in my opinion. I like the metal halide idea but not the pendants from odyssea because the I know them fixtures and the 18 inch actinic bulbs in those fixtures I think are hard to find so that may trouble later on. and as far as the center brace issue is concerned look at my tanks pics and all I have is 1 175watt mh and almost no center brace shadowing.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/75845-my-new-65-gallon.html

 

[adamt]

when did pc's become such crap? when i got my first custom sealife 260w pc everyone thought it was great. I used it for years all through college (lol 6 years for me) and would still be using it now if i hadnt caught a discus bug a few years back. It was a great light bright as anything I had it and a 2x65 48" coralife pc on a 90 and the growth was insane. I used to work at a shop called eddies aquarium up in albany while in school and everyone there kept reef tanks and mine was by far the nicest with nothing but pc's. Im not disagreeing with yall to be argumentative, I just dont understand when pc's started sucking, I know lots of people that raved about them when they were the newest thing and now that theres a newer thing everyone hates them.

I know that if ur a halide user, then ur a halide user and everything else isnt gonna cut it (till led gets cheaper and everyone will be talking about how halides arent as good as everyone thought they were). But if the pcs and t5's arent gonna cut it anyone have a 36" halide/t5 combo they wanna get rid of cheap? lol

 

[adamt]

if it really comes down to it ill cut the brace out and bolt on an acrylic strip to the old brace nubs.