Lighting options for 55gal

[StrangeBreu]

Hey all, new here and new to the reef-keeping world...

so heres the deal..

i have a 55 gal that has been running for a year as a brackish tank, with some 2 monos, green spotted puffer, 2 archers, and a dragon goby and crayfish for cleanup. i decided to switch it over to marine after my 20gal switch went well. only thing is this time i plan on keeping some of the fish in there and acclimating them over the course of the next few weeks.
thanks to Craigslist, i have found good homes for the archers and crayfish. i can do the same for the rest but i kinda want to keep them in there and mix them with marine fish. ill make a separate post about potential stocking plans and whatnot later. right now, my concern is lighting

I picked up a red sea berlin x2 from a guy on CL and he had some leftover lighting fixtures that he sold off for cheap. so now i have a choice as to what i can use to illuminate this tank.
there is a smartlite compact flourescent with 2-65w bulbs, which, from my research, is not enough light to sustain any coral whatsoever. so can i switch the bulbs out?
the doozy is a metal halide fixture with 2-175w 10,000k bulbs and 2-Coralife F40T12BP 20,000k flourescents. the daylight balast for this thing is huge, weighs like 40lbs and the nighttime one is half its size. it tests fine, though one of the 20k's doesnt work, not really sure if its a bulb or wiring issue.

so my major question is this: which one is worth using? my concerns are as follows: 1)I dont know too much in the way of corals, so im probably gonna start cheap and simple. though i would like to try an anemone out. since i cant do it in the smaller tank. plus it wouldnt be bad to have the option to do some more advanced stuff cause i appreciate a steep learning curve. 2)which is more energy efficient? i dont wanna fall over when the electricty bill comes. 3) i know MH bulbs are costly but whats the life/cost vs CF? 4) will using the metal halide setup as is limit what i can do in the tank/promote obscene algae growth.

[drew1]

If your choices are just those two systems I'd go with the MH. It allows more flexibility to expand into corals and anemones. I have two 55's with 2x250w systems (SPS, LPS and fish) as well as a 75 with 4x65 PC (fish only), and a 10 gallon nano with a PC system. The nano has very happy fish and soft corals. I belive that modern ballasts make MH very efficient, but it is still pulling a bunch of power. But my ballasts (Icecap) are small but dense. I'm not sure about a 40 pound ballast for a 175w system.

[mr.maroonsalty]

well, I won't say the 2 65w light is worthless, but some will; some less light tolerant corals like mushrooms, kenyas, leathers... can be sustained, but I wouldn't keep an anemone. The halide system will meet the basic needs of just about anything you want to keep, but as you are aware there is an addition cost in electricity. 350W on for 10hrs per day is 3.5 kW of electricity, look on you electric bill find the cost per kW and the deliver cost per kW and do the math. On smaller systems lighting is a large percentage of the energy costs, but pumps that run 24/7 add substantially, especially as systems get bigger and more remote. Algae growth in the coral system is a matter of fact; corals require light, so algae is battled by nutrient control with water changes, detritavours, good water flow, mechanical, chemical, biological filtration...

[mr.maroonsalty]

another thing, if you want to go slowly, only run on of the 175W halides, and moff ball the other for awhile. A higher par bulb in a higher end reflector will save electricity and give plenty of light to work with.

[StrangeBreu]

thanks for the tips,

so can i put stronger bulbs in the smartlite? like two 96s or so? i think im gonna stick to softies and some easy lps. but i would like to keep an anemone or two.
on the other end of the spectrum (light pun), with the MH can i put lower wattage bulbs in there? and if i were to take one out, as mentioned, would half the tank be underlit? also would that make much of a difference on operating costs?

[mr.maroonsalty]

Your 55 should be a 4' tank, one MH centered in the tank would make the ends a wee bit under lit, but maybe not that badly, and there should be enough light on the ends for lower light tolerant corals. Unfortunately, the higher end reflectors are a bit to large for the tanks width. I only suggested using one mh too save on the electric bill, running both halides should only cost ~$6-7 more a month. You more than likely have to match bulb and ballast (there is new select a watt ballast, you most likely don't have it), you also need to be a bit careful matching bulbs to the type of ballast (pulse, probe, electronic) and if you decide to buy halide bulbs you should post a question or study what you might need. I don't know about pc lights enough to tell you if that ballast might handle higher watt bulbs. Anemones should be kept in well seasoned stable tanks, with excellent nutrient control, therefore, require a bit of an experienced hand, in a 4' tank plan on dedicating 1/3-1/2 of it for the anemone; most easily become dinner plate size. Please be patient and do a good deal of research before purchasing one of these animals; I would certainly get the halide set up if in the future I was planning to keep one.