At a loss in regards to lighting
 

I am seriously lost here. So I'm just going to say what I want in a light, and hope I get some decent feedback. Essentially I want to grow mostly Soft coral and LPS. Some Sps but not allot. It will be on a 75 gallon so it's gotta be a 48" fixture. Tell me your tales

I think you need to decide further what you're going to keep. Softies can inhibit SPS growth, so you might not want SPS. In which case you can get away with less. But, you may want SPS and decide later that you really love it more than life itself, and then you need more, and you don't want to end up not having enough light available. How about clams? They like to sit on the bottom. so lots of light.
Most LPS and softies can take a lot of light, so figure out the most demanding thing, buy lighting for that, then you don't have to upgrade.

Then you can figure out MH/LED/T5/Solar flares and what works best for your setup and wallet. :)

what's your budget?

And think about what you will want to me growing down the road mostly. LPS, softies, sps? I know you said softies, but what kind? Zoas, Xenia? Some zoos can almost be like sps in terms of light.

Essentially I want to grow anything. I know my limits on what I can and cant keep and what not, my budget is basically 500 and under.

500 all in with bulbs? Chances are you're looking at mh or t5, LED if you DIY.

I'd look at one of those coralife 250w MH fixtures (used), or something similar.

I've got a really beat up 36" maristar fixture. it's 2x250w and the T5 ballasts are shot. I have no doubt this can still light a 48" tank and you could raise it a bit too.

You'd have to pickup the mh ballasts but I'll give you the fixture itself for free =)

Wow thanks! I might just have to take you up on that! Ill give you a couple corals as well! In regards to a ballast. What am I looking at for one of those? Would I have to hit eecol electric or something?

referring to Brads earlier post, what are solar flares? are those like Solar tubes?
Also I know I'm going DIY LED on my next build. costly up front but cheap to run

It was originally using a bluewave 7 ballast which runs 2x250w. I bought this unit as a package deal specifically to get the ballast.

You can buy the exact same thing (will plug right into it) from Dave here:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=80221

Or if you'd prefer to buy electronic ballasts you can find some used as well I'm sure. These will need to be spliced yourself unless the newer electronic sunlight supply ones have the same connectors.

Hmm I personally haven't been to Daves shop but I've heard great things about it. Is the T5 ballast shot too?

so i was told. you don't need to run t5s necessarily.

Hmmm, do the t5's ignite and stay lit?

I've never tried them I have no idea. New ballast would be pretty cheap but it's not something I've done or troubleshot before.

Okay, is there any coral you would like in return? I could give you a Kenya tree, or a chilli coral, or even 2 condylactis anemones if you want

There is a guy on RC selling a Giesemann Eco/Plus 230 48" Blue Metal Halide Fixture 2x250W 2x54W T5 for $400 plus shipping.

No thank-you though ;)

I would look into a 6 bulb T5 fixture, many will fit into your budget new. The options you'll have for bulbs will allow you to adjust the overall intensity for whatever you plan to keep. For lower light you could put in a couple actinics for more effect while if you wanted more intensity use more high par rated bulbs.