Help: Lighting for Red Sea 250

[Squirrellyman]

At this point, I've read hundreds of posts about aquariums and lighting, including the intro ones by Dana Riddle and Steven Pro (thank you!).

I’m getting a Red Sea Reefer 250 (36x20x21), and I’ll “only” be having LPS and fish.

I know I should have (at least) two lights to minimize shadows. I can’t seem to find anything comparing the Red Sea ReefLED 90 and 50. I know the recommendation from Red Sea is 2x 90’s for their Reefer 250, but is it necessary for LPS? (As I’ve learned from you-all, you can’t give a recommendation without knowing what is in the tank!)

I’ve seen the PAR graphs, but I don’t know how to apply them. Obviously, the 90 is more light but I don’t know if 2x ReefLED 50’s is enough. I also am considering the AI primes (roughly same price if 2 is enough for this application, and the interface gets rave reviews.) For that matter, are the “eBay specials” an option?

To summarize, how can I tell that a pair of lights will/will not be enough for my application?

Thanks for helping a newbie!

 

[Saltyreef]

2x hydra 26hd fixtures would be perfect