Lighting a 75 gallon

[InsideJoke]

Well, I picked up my 75 gallon today. I was previously going to be setting up a 20 long, but got the opportunity to get a bigger tank so I jumped on it and now I'm a little lost about lighting for a deeper tank.
Will a 4 bulb fixture t5ho be enough or do I need a 6 bulb? I'm not really concerned about SPS, the tank will probably most be zoas, softies and some LPS.
I really dont want to consider MH, but should I?

[jthomps123]

Not a T5 expert but for softies and lps i'd be confident in 4xT5HO's on a 75.

[slathrum]

I'm betting 2 54 watt T5HO's will be enough for softies and most LPS over a 75. 4 wouldn't hurt, but I'm going to try it out myself with 2 first. They'll be in Icecap reflectors with one ATI blue plus and one aquablue special. Really, 4 with good reflectors is a good number and I bet most agree with that. I'm just trying 2 first and seeing how it goes.

[jaypeeroe]

4x54 HO t5's will be great as long as your not wanting to keep SPS. some people have had good luck keeping SPS under T5's, but it seems to be the exception to the rule.

[InsideJoke]

Alright cool. Any other opinions?

[mojo10]

You will be just fine, you may want to change your lamps every 5 to 6 months...

[anbosu]

I would go with 200 watts over the 75. It will allow you greater flexibility down the road with placing corals, etc.

[InsideJoke]

Are you talking MH? Most 48" 4 bulb t5ho fixtures are 216 watts.

[anbosu]

Are you talking MH? Most 48" 4 bulb t5ho fixtures are 216 watts.

No, I was being lazy and approximating the wattage, sorry. My reasoning is with only 2 54w bulbs you will probably have to place LPS at the top of your rocks. If you get the 4 54w I think you would get enough PAR at the bottom of the tank to have them down there as well.

[InsideJoke]

Gotcha. I dont plan on going any less than 4x54.
Now I just need to decide on a fixture.

[ajones51]

I have a 4 bulb nova sundial on my 90 and keep SPS and a clam with no problems. You'll be fine with 4.