180g aquarium lighting.

[slythy]

I have a 180g freshwater aquarium that will at somepoint be converted over to a reef tank in its life.

My 70g aquarium i use 2x xr15 g5 and 4x36" t5 bulbs. I really like where the par landed on this aquarium but I do wish it had the shimmer that my Kessils on my FW tank has.

What would be the ideal SPS lighting for the 180g? would you go 3x xr30 + t5 or XHO's or 3x ax500's with t5s or xhos? Something else?

Just curious for future planning to see how much its going to cost to convert haha.

 

[Spare time]

If you like the kessil shimmer, I would go with those (2 ap9x or 3-4 a500x) + supplemental bars (one or two on each side) such as the AI blade, reefbrite, quanta, etc.. That will work wonderfully and still have the shimmer. Most of this just comes down to cost.