how do I know whether to hang my light or not? I am setting up a 75 gallon tank with a led strip light, nicrew 48" reef light 10,000k whites with blue. maybe down the road ill invest in something better, but for ow im trying to watch the spending.
Strip lights like those don't need to be hung. You might look at multiple of them if you can afford it. Hanging is more or less asthetic appeal, unless you're using one light to get maximum coverage, say a kessil ap9x. I hung my ap700 because to cover a 48" tank (75g) it needed to go higher and I wanted the light to be custom (i built a steel pipe rack ovet the tank). If you're on a budget and want something that's basic and will grow coral, look into koval led strip at 2x its ~ $120.