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JAAYS32
02/26/2011, 04:42 PM
Hey everyone. I was into the salt water aquarium scene ages ago and have recently decided to get back into it...and things have changed quite a bit. I am planning on setting up a 65gal and have the usual filters and whatnot already. The only thing I am really missing is a good lighting set up. I bought the tank used and it came with a decent fixture for freshwater and even for a Cichlid tank but I know it wont fit the bill for a marine tank, especially if I decide to go reef. I guess my question is whats a decent set up that wont kill my bank account? Again, I will probably start with a fish only tank but I may want to go reef sometime as well. Any ideas on what I should get that will ble to handle an upgrade if I choose to do so?

Thanks for all your help,
Jay

janson
02/26/2011, 11:08 PM
I myself always use MH. I currently have a 75 gal with 4 - 175Wmh @20,000K. Thinking of adding a few T8's to the mix as well.

frish85
02/27/2011, 12:53 AM
i would go with MH you can find good deals on craigs list

pkirby
02/27/2011, 08:18 AM
By filters, do you mean a canister filter or hob filter? Or are you talking protein skimmer? I'd personally would just use a skimmer and my live rock/sand as my filtration method... fwiw...
As far as lighting, mh is great and if you are really wanting the shimmer effect mh or led is the way to go. The biggest benefit to led lighting is once you have bought it, there isn't maintenance of replacing bulbs, and electric usage is minimal. The down side is that once it's done you have to replace the whole thing! Most are rated around 50,000 hours though, so that shouldn't happen too often! Also you can't adjust the color of led like you could by replacing a bulb in a mh or t5 setup... LED may break the bank short term, but long term it'd be worth it, IMO.
The other option is t5. This is what I use... Minimal heat transfer to the tank (an issue with mh) and you can replace specific bulbs to tweak the color just how you like it. Like mh though, the cost of replacing bulbs can add up over time... Lighting in the tank is very consistent from t5, but you don't get the shimmer effect. I supplement my light with some LEDs and pick up some shimmer that way...

Hope this helped

JAAYS32
02/27/2011, 05:36 PM
Doesnt MH come with a lot of other issues such as costly bulb replacement and an enormous amount of heat output? I always thought those were two major drawbacks to using that kind of set-up.

NYCBOB
02/27/2011, 05:48 PM
whether u go with mh or t5, the bulbs need to be changed out every 9-12 months unless its a fish only tank.

Acrotrdco
02/27/2011, 08:13 PM
Well I'm using LED with great success on my 65g, since you're also building a 65g you can take a look at mine, see if it'll give you any idea:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1929512