Cindy,
I have a 35g hex & I have bought several T-5 lights & PC lights for it (it's only 18" wide so non-standard dimensions for lighting units). If I had to do it all over again, I would have spent all that money (about $200
) on a used Metal Halide pendant 150 or 175w. As it is now, I have 3 *65w PC (2 10000k & 1 actinic) and 2 T-5 actinic. It's now finally bright enough, but I could have made it a lot better with just the MH unit. Unfortunately, 65w PCs are not very bright
so that's why I need so many & it's very messy (no room with so many lights). With that much money invested in lighting for this tank, I really would have been better off with MH. 96w PCs are much brighter & more cost-effective than 65w PCs, but you would need a 33g tank or a 27g long to accomodate it's 35" length. As an owner of a hex tank I can tell you first hand that it can be a thing of beauty but it's a lot more challenging to aquascape & to equip than a regular tank. Space will be a limiting factor for your corals & fish. For a newbie, you should maybe consider looking for a good used 33g setup. There's a picture of my hex in my photo gallery (under SeaHorse_fanatic) & I can take a pic of the many lights needed on top if you want me too. Not going MH on a hex is one of my more expensive mistakes.
JME & JMO (just my experience/opinion)
Anthony (fellow hex tank owner)
