Howdy,
...that $125 Bakpak sounds pretty good. Look at
www.cprusa.com for details. Highly recommended and it hangs on the bak(hence, bakpak). If you are pretty good with your hands, you could build one using standard PVC for about $80. It would be better than a HOT-1 -- but the HOT-1 just looks cooler.
As for your PCs, 96W is fine for most corals except for the most demanding. Get a good shinny reflector for your 96W. See
www.ahsupply.com for details. Most soft and LPS will be fine. LPS don't need tons of light as long as you feed them once a week.
However, have you considered MH or MV ? Its cheaper than you think. Something like a Iwasaki 250W setup should cost less than $250 (PFO Ballast from J&L with 6500K Iwasaki MV). You could add actinics when you save enough money -- since they are mostly for looks.
As for you last question -- how long ? As long as you are sure that everything is working....you can put them in almost immediately. The only caution is that you should acclimate your corals to the new lighting.
- Victor.
[ 31 October 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]