Min lighting for corals
 

My tank is new so I am not going to attempt this for quite some time.

I have 108 6 foot by 18 inch tank. My original thought was a FOWLR tank however my wife really likes the corals and wants me to get a few at least. What kinds of corals are realtively easy to keep? What kind of things should I look for and most of all what kind of lighting will I require?

I do not want to blow the bank on lighting so pretty much looking for a minimum acceptable to grow corals with.

Thanks a lot.

Is 18" the height of the tank? Do you like to DIY? You save a lot of money that way.

18 is the width. I think 20 is the height.

DIY will work. I got some time to make it right.

You may consider a trio of 175W metal halides...the cost difference isn't too much between MH and VHO/PC and you'll get longer bulb life and a more versatile lighting setup.

JMO.

Can you explain? Are those the hanging fixtures?

Where do you get them

No, they are not a hanging fixture. I assumed you were mounting lights in a canopy?

What you would need is:
1x6' reflector
3xmogul socket
3x175W bulbs
3x175W MH ballasts (get these from an electrical wholesaler and wire yourself)

I agree, go Metal Halide. The only way you will break the bank, is by buying another light because you will only upgrade to MH later!

so true :D

yeah I agree... Since I had a first hand experience in breaking the bank just for lighting.. I have to change lighting set up 3 times first I had PC then I want more coral so I go with T5 lots of it then I want more corals so I have to upgrade to MH which I should have done in the first place....

So just go with MH since you'll never knew what will you want in your tank in the future.

and if you go MH, you can "upgrade" from that when it's time to change bulbs. Since you have to buy bulbs anyways, you can just add in a few new ballasts and do 250w later in life and the rest of the hardware is already wired in.