Lighting upgrade..how much $$$???!!!

[courtneyclv]

I need a lighting upgrade. Enough wattage for anemones and corals, eventually. (I do not know what kind yet)

I have a 82 inch long tank, by 15 by 15. I just got a price quote from another member for metal halides for $700-1000!!!

Is that REALLY what I need and how much? What kind of wattage do I need and where can I get very long bulbs that are not that wide? (I need room on my tank so that it opens.)

The glass top is half way..so they can't be more than 7 inches wide.
Do these high wattage bulbs come in the standard 36 inch like my flourescents?

And I cannot hang anything because my tank is in a cubby hole.

Thanks for your help!
:)
Courtney

[sir_dudeguy]

well since you wanna grow anemone's, imo yes, you need MH bulbs, tho i know for a fact that you can get by a lot cheaper than a thousand bucks. Look on the selling forum for retrofits or something. For an 82 inch long tank..you're prolly gonna need like 4 bulbs i think But i'd get like 175 watters, or maybe 250 watters...so now that i think about it...you may be running up towards 600..

The long bulbs you're talkin about are gonna be pc's, but they're not good for anemone's and sps corals...or you could do t5's, but i dont know if they got a bulb that long, so you'd have to do a retro fit...but w/that long of a tank, you're gonna be lookin at retros for pretty much all the lights. But i vote for metal halides, only look on the sellign forum for some...theyr'e cheaper there.

[theatrus]

You're only 15" deep, and they do make 80" T5 lamps which may be the most economical choice you have. Shoot for at least 4, preferably 6 (for anemones) T5 lamps. I'd ask in Lighting and Equipment about the best layout for that tank in terms of type of bulb (GE 6500k bulbs + ATI BluePlus + UVL SuperActinic is the best combo it seems - the proportion is the tricky part).

If you'd like to do MH (and who doesn't ;)), 3x250W SE or 4x150W DE is what I would do. Both would allow you to run bluer bulbs (such as 14k bulbs or 20k) and still get good light output.

[Amphiprion]

For that shallow a tank, VHO, T5, etc would be more than adequate for anything, including anemones.

[Shagsbeard]

I've heard only good things about T5s from people who use them.

[Remicade]

if you dont have room to hang your lights i would go with the t5's as well. the MH will heat up your tank too much.

[sir_dudeguy]

ah, i didnt reallize they make an 80 inch bulb :) In that case, definatly go w/that, like paintbug said, at least 4 of them.