Over my standard 125 gallon 6 foot tank I am currently running four 250w metal halides with spider reflectors and four 39w T5's with Tekk reflectors. Now that they have been running for about 6 months over the tank I am starting to think I could get by with upgrading the metal halide reflectors and only running two of them. Three really is not an option as I have the center brace in the middle of the tank. Here is what I currently have under the hood:
This is to be an sps dominated tank. I think having only two metal halides will work out due to my aquascaping.
The sps will all be on these two rock "mounds". None will be in the middle unless they eventually grow out that far. As for having shady spots I think the T5's should eliminate them. I forsure will be able to keep two of the T5's in the hood. It all depends if they will fit with the bigger reflectors. It will be very close. So far I am thinking of going with the LumenMax Elite reflectors. They are only 14.5" wide so I think I could fit all of the T5's in the hood. Do these sound like a good option? Any opinions on this? The lights will be about 10" from the water. It will be nice to save some money on electricity as well as get rid of some excess heat!
