Need advice on lighting a 72 gallon

[P55Jovi]

I am very new at this, 3 months. Surprisingly I have been very fortunate getting advice on the setup of my tank from my brother. But he did not go into the hobby very far and when he moved he sold his tank and equipment. I am looking into upgrading my lighting fixture and trying to decide whether or not to go with the 4x65 watt orbit or the 4x96 watt orbit. By all means if the lighting on the 65 watt model will suffice it will save me some money but I want to make sure that it is enough for my size tank. Any advice?

[Reefland]

Hi P55jovi,

The subject of lighting is a difficult one due to the number of variables and number of choices. The best place to start is to decide what kind of corals you are planning to keep. If you can tell us your wants here, we can steer you towards some lighting.

[P55Jovi]

Thanks Scott, there are so many to choose from lol I'd like to put some polyps, brain, and pulse corals in there. I already have a small green star polyp and am planning on adding some mushroom to the mix.

[Reefland]

That is helpful. The 4x96w PC's will do a great job for those coral types. You might also look into a nice VHO setup (I would chose VHO over PC's; I think they look better). You might also consider a 2 bulb T-5 setup or even a 4 bulb T-5 setup. Many people are having great results with stony corals under the T-5's.

[P55Jovi]

Thanks!

[razorfingerz]

i like halides.. they are really intense and give a great shimmer effect on the water.. you can prolly get them cheap if you find someone trying to upgrade their lights

[sammy318]

hi, i'm also pretty new to this, I have a 95 gallon reef tank. At first, a bought a T5 light. I just switched to a coralife 250 pro halide light last night. The tank went up in temperature a lot during the day, it feels a lot hotter.. i have it on for about ten hrs. some of the corals seem like they closed up.. if you have any advice, if you know if i need a chiller of anything, i would really appreciate some advice. thanks. -Sam

[charlie]

hi, i'm also pretty new to this, I have a 95 gallon reef tank. At first, a bought a T5 light. I just switched to a coralife 250 pro halide light last night. The tank went up in temperature a lot during the day, it feels a lot hotter.. i have it on for about ten hrs. some of the corals seem like they closed up.. if you have any advice, if you know if i need a chiller of anything, i would really appreciate some advice. thanks. -Sam

Whoa, I would cut back on the photoperiod like right now!!!! You are going to shock your corals with the lite change. Do a search on here about lighting acclimation, please!!!!