Lost in the lamp world!

[sunkool]

I spent 3 days researching the reef lighting market and decided on 2 Icecap 430's and 4 72" URI bulbs. 2 actinic 2 actinic white. This would be going over a 125g tank in the canopy.
After calling 2 lfs's they both tried talking me into t5 lighting. they both said the bulbs last longer and are cheaper to run.
Well back to the drawing board.
I am looking at the t5's and see that they don't come in 72" to cover the span of the tank. I would need 2 36" sets to cover the span and 2 back. that meand 4 sets. On top of that the bulbs are only 39 watts each. X8 bulbs is only 312 total watts. Now compare that to the 640 watts that would come from the 4 vho's.
Am I wrong do I need 8 sets to get equal wattage??
Help
Help.
Thanks

 

[seagirl]

wattage is not the all important number. first, what are you trying to accomplish- growth lighting or actinic. If actinic, the vho's would be fine. if your looking for growth lighting, i would go with the t5's or MH.

 

[sunkool]

as of now I only have soft coral and am looking to get into sps and lps. I know of two people with vho's that get alot of growth with them. I have never seen t5 installed on a reef tank. even the lfs's that I spoke of have vho's with MH. I don't want the MH's because of the heat and other things involved.

 

[reefrubble]

Who did you talk to about the t5s ? Ted