lighting needs

[Michaela521]

Hello, I have some coral and fish in a 36 gallon and am looking to upgrade to help the life more. I was looking at purchasing a marineland marine pro lighting at 24" with one 150 watt metal halide and with four 24w actinic bulbs with 2 leds. Cost for this bad boy is 550 dollars though. OUCH! Would this be the best light for this setup though. Thanks*thumbsups

 

[Lotus]

What kind of corals do you have (or want in the future)? How deep is the tank?

We have a similar fixture by Coralife, and I think it was less expensive (about $300 to $400, maybe).

I personally prefer T5 lighting, but it has been a while since I really researched what's available and what's good.

 

[Newman]

fishneedit has some nice cheaper MH fixtures that wont kill your wallet. i'm sure they have T5s and even combos too.

 

[exhumed07]

I have a coralife dual liniar t5 and my corals are spreading quite nicely. although I have soft corals. not sure if hard corals are different or not.