Lighting help for reef aquarium 50 gallons?

Question

My tanks is 48'' length 12'' wide' 19'' tall it is a 50 gallon. What type of lighting do i need to support a variety of corals, sps,lps, anemones and mushroom and etc. Do you recommend power compacts rated at 260 watts? What is the best option available if i am unable to get metal halides. heres the link to what im plannign to buy but never dealt with power compacts before and need your help http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUARIUM-LIGHT-48-REEF-ODYSSEA-260WT-POWER-COMPACT_W0QQitemZ260266753047QQihZ016QQcategoryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Answer 1

Compact fluorescents will work, but you'd have more options with a VHO T-5 fixture-- due to the shape of the bulb and lumen output, more light is directed towards the tank (especially with individual reflectors) than with compacts.  Metal halides would be good choices too, but get VERY hot and actually put out less light per watt than very high output T-5s.  Even a fixture like this would be better: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Pr...

Answer 2

If you cant get t5's I would go with PC.

I have a variety of corals that thrive in 260W PC lighting.

Hope I helped...

Answer 3

That rig should work well for most species of coral you plan on keeping (it rates over 5 WPG), but if you can afford it, MH or LED's would still be a better option. I say this because point source light creates a more natural lighting scheme in a tank than one gets from tubes or pc's. That being said, the other poster here had a real good point, MH will certainly generate much much more heat than you will see with tubes or pc's, so that is a consideration to take into account.

One final consideration is placement in the tank. Assuming this light will be near the top of the tank rather than suspended a foot or so above the tank, keep your light hungry corals nearer to the surface while your lower light species down towards the bottom of the tank.