Need help with lighting for my 125 reef.

[Shananagans]

So, I am upgrading my 65g reef into my new 125. I will have a diff thread for the details of the 125 tang reef tank in the works. Right now I need to figure out how to do the lighting. Right now i do not have any hard corals or clams, but I will probly be doing them shortly, So I will need halides, or t5's if some1 can convince me they are good enough. I currently have a 150w 10k on my 65g, I think I want to go to 14k or 15k on the 125g, I don't like the yellow oft he 10k. If I do that do I need atinics? My other main issue is my canopy it does not give me alot of room. Lights on legs are not really an option for me. So a retro fit seems to be the way to go. The other set back is the 2 wood braces in the canopy the my lid rest on. Therefore I would have to do 3 seperate retro fits. I found what seems like my best option at hellolights.com 24" 1x150W HQI Metal Halide/ 2x24W T5 Fluorescent - 150224 (http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1353)
It is a halide with 2 atinics. at $280 a piece x3 that adds up quick. Will those little t5s be enough? And it looks like the halide is 3in in depth my canopy is about 7in and with the over flows in the tank the water is a bout 2in down from the top since the overflow does not reach the top. i would say that puts the light roughly 5in from the water mayber 4 with spacers, is that far enough? Can some1 please help me out.

[lReef lKeeper]

with the halides being that close to the water ... you are going to get some pretty serious heat. that heat will raise the temp of the tank quickly. i would say to build a new canopy for them. also with 150w halides you will need to keep the more light demanding corals up high in the tank. i have 3x250w halides, but the 150w halides are, IMHO, not as intense.

[Casper]

I have a 90 gallon tank which is 24 inches deep so I went with 2 250w halides. I went thru this a couple of months ago and no one recommended the t-5 lighting. They all recommended the 250w for the deeper systems. I am currently setting up a new system and am new to the hobby but I thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

[Shananagans]

I wouldn't do 250w, just to much added to the electric bill. The most I would do is 175w. the tank is 24in high, but with the overflows the water is about 2in from the tank. And if i continue with my roughly 4in sand bed, That means I only have about 18-20in of water. 175w would do that fine.

I would love to build a new canopy, but I'm just worried that the stain on the canopy won't match the coloring of the stand. I am very concerned with the appearance of my tanks. I considered hanging lights, but again I don't know if the appearance is up to par.

Does anyone use just 14k or 15k halide bulbs and not use atinics successfully. And if so how is the coloring, I don't want a drastic blue, but the yellow from my 10k is not to my likening. i want a white blueish or slight blueish tint. I think the 20k will be too blue. And I hear that corals don't grow as will under 20k.

[lReef lKeeper]

yeah, actinics are NOT a nessecity a must. they are more for you viewing enjoyment. i know plenty of people that do not run them.