Newbie question about lighting

[Recife]

OK, I just bought a 125g tank, 28" high, 48" wide. I plan to have a fish only tank and live rock for both decoration and biological filtering.
What kind of lighting fixture would you recommend, no. of watts, etc?
I'm wondering if I can keep the fixture that came with the hood that fits 3 fluorescent 48" bulbs.
Thanks!

 

[Blown 346]

Yes you could keep the original hood, but I would want to upgrade those bulbs to a higher kelvin and spectrum so you can have some corraline growth.

 

[Recife]

That I could do, but is that going to give me enough wattage to keep the live rock? I raed a lot of conflicting information, but there were places that said I need up to 3 watts per gallon.

 

[BurntOutReefer]

you should be fine with that wattage..(I agree on changing temp.).....you might even be able to keep some softies

 

[RBU1]

Well what I was told is 5 watts per gallon. Then I was told you can not measure by that. If you ever plan on putting any corals in that tank I would seriously consider dual 250 watt halides plus some power compacts for actinic value. If you are just going to have rock and fish you should be OK.

 

[IslandCrow]

Metal halides for a fish only tank? It doesn't seem like that would be worth the expense. I would think PCs or VHOs would be about the most he'd want to spend on lighting, unless he just really likes that ever coveted "shimmer" effect MHs give. . .and is much richer than I am.

 

[RBU1]

No if you read my response correctly I said if you ever plan on adding any corals to the tank!!!!!!!!!!! To get Halides.

 

[Recife]

Thanks for all the replies! (and let's not fight

I will stick with fish only, at least for the first year. I'm coming from freshwater and I like fish better because of the movement. I also want to add lionfish, angels and others that wouldn't be reef compatible.

 

[alten78]

yes the watts per gallon rule is worthless imo. If its the kind of live rock i see in the lfs, its nothing but some slightly covered coraline rock, which doesn't need much light. I would just suggest shopping around for a cheap 50/50 fixture just for aesthetics.

 

[dave11]

try this thread
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=550860
dave