Best lighting setup for my tank?

[reefcapnnick]

Hi all, newbie starting on his first reef tank.

It's a 65g acrylic (48lx18wx17h) with a 20 gallon sump.

I'm going to be using about 88 lbs of fiji live rock with a shallow sand bed (2").

My livestock wish list includes a couple ocellaris, a couple blennys, a couple cardinal fish and a tang. Inverts include lots of crabs, snails, a cucumber and some shrimp.

I will be housing primarily soft corals. I would like an anenome for the ocellaris.

I know next to nothing about reef lighting. I'd like to avoid the price of MH if possible.

Please let me know what you recommend for my setup.

 

[Recife]

Most people will say you will need MH if you want an anemone.
Try looking into retrofit kits, they are reasonably priced, if your hood/canopy has space for it.

Take a look at this link. You may find something here http://www.aquariumlight.com/product_cat.php?category=MH / VHO Canopies&subcategory=48"%20MH/VHO%20Canopies

If you really want to avoiud MH, try one of those 4x65w Power Compact (2 x 10K and 2 Actinic). The 10k ones will give intensity while the actinic ones will be on the blue side of the spectrum and give you a nicer color. The 10k alone will be very yellow.

 

[SBJim]

T5's with individual reflectors I think are generally regarded as superior to PC's for those who want to avoid MH for whatever reason.

There is a massive T5 thread on RC. There have been multiple tanks of the month with lots of SPS lit by T5's. Here's an online vendor that seems to have good prices:

http://www.innovativelights.com/ss-960035.html