New Tank Sizing and Lighting help

[BoykinLover]

Hi All,

I am back to setting up a tank after a 10 year absence from the hobby. I have come in possession of a 55 gallon, a 30 gallon and a 10 gallon tank. None of which are drilled.
The tanks came with a 48" T5 4 tube florescent lighting hood.
My initial desire was to use the 55 gallon as display and the 30 gallon as the sump and the 10 gallon as a quarantine tank.
After looking at start up costs, I've decided to use the 30 gallon as display and the 55 gallon as sump / refugium / whatever.
I plan to use the T5 on the sump.
LED lighting was not available when I last had a tank. What would be a suitable LED light fixture for a 30 gallon tank for mixed corals and inverts.

Also, if I am thing backwards and should use the 55 gallon as display, with a simple LED on the sump I would appreciate that advice as well.

Very confused by the new LED and T5 lighting options and have not found a good resource to explain them. I used to run Metal Halides.... I know, I'm a dinosaur.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[stingeragent]

Vast majority of 55 gallons are tempered so you can't drill them. If you want a sump, I'd stick with using the 30 for the DT. Have a sump bigger than the display is a huge plus. Can setup a good size fuge, allow a large pod population, etc. The lighting will depend on the coral you want. Are they regular t5's or t5ho's? Depending on how long that 30 is, 1 or 2 mars aqua reef led's is the cheapest way to go while still getting a light strong enough to grow anything. Photon 16" or 24" in (euphotica 16 or 24 is the clone on ebay/amazon) would also be a good choice that won't break the bank.