What lights for 100 gallon reef tank

[djd3mon]

I have a 100 gallon tank 60x20x20
I will be starting the process of buying live rock and live sand soon.
I already have fish and corals in 2 smaller frag tanks.

I Plan to add a mixture of Acropora, Montipora, Acans, Zoas, Palys, Mushrooms and I'm sure a few other types of coral. I want to have a few softball sized or bigger colonies of acropora near the surface of the tank and have smaller colonies of zoas, acans, lps, sps and other softies around the tank near the middle and bottom.

What lights will work best for this?
I'm looking for a semi specific answer.

I'm leaning towards doing all t5 lighting since Ive seen a local reefer here have an all SPS tank with all t5's but am also interested in doing a MH and Led combo.

I want to stick to under $1000 for lighting if I can. If i need to do a lot of DIY that's fine with me.

Thanks

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

T5/led combo. if the commercial units are too much then find an old tek t5 , take out a couple bulbs and install some leds. I've done this and it works great.

 

[djd3mon]

What do you think on quantity? 8 bulbs.....im sure the more the better.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Yup I would go for 8 bulb but 6 would work depending on coral placement. t5 are great for light spread.

 

[reeferdon]

I like that size tank and if I had to choose for lighting, I would go with 3 or 4 AI Primes HD and since it's 60" I would add 4 Retrofit 24" T5's. 2 across the back and 2 across the front if I needed more lighting.

 

[djd3mon]

I like that size tank and if I had to choose for lighting, I would go with 3 or 4 AI Primes HD and since it's 60" I would add 4 Retrofit 24" T5's. 2 across the back and 2 across the front if I needed more lighting.

I like that idea since Ialready have 2 AI Primes

I also have 2 dual t5 lights.
I might mess with this idea and see how it works.

I have been talking to a local lfs owner here who is selling a Geismann Aurora t5 / led hybrid for a STEAL!!!

so many choices.

 

[reeferdon]

With that setup, I would start with just the Primes first to see how the corals do and add T5's later. Will you be using a canopy?

 

[djd3mon]

I will be using a floating style canopy. I have wall mounts that I can hang stuff from