Lighting for a Reef Tank??

[lil mermaid]

Hey all

I am interested in setting up a salt water tank but am wanting to upgrade to a Reef Tank soon after as I would love to purchase corals as well as anemone and have some beautiful fish swimming in and amongst it all ;D I currently have a 65 Gallon tank and am wondering what type of lighting I will need to cater for the coral? I was doing some reading earlier on and if I read correctly lighting will cost approx 800-1000 Bux :-\. Is there a cheaper alternative i.e. buying a few fluorescent lights to cater for my coral? will I need day light lighting and night time lighting for my coral?

Ur help would be much appreciated

 

[Mike]

Hiya - welcome to Fishlore.

The light required for a reef tank depends on the tank inhabitants... You really need to figure out what you want to keep first and then go from there in order to figure out what tank equipment you'll need. If you're interested in corals and anemones though you're most likely lookin at High Output (HO), VHO (very high output) or metal halides. Lighting may be one of the biggest outlays of cash on a reef tank (besides the very expensive corals).