advice on equipment for frag tank

so if I had 2 par 38s from orphek in a 20 long would that be enough lighting for acros. And where can i find a good um um how do i say this a good thing you plug the bulb into

 

Aren't par 38 bulbs over $100 each? Plus you need a decent receptacle to put it in.
... I'm thinking you'd be better off with a 2 or 4 bulb T5HO fixture.
A 20 long is 30" I believe so you would need to go for a 24" fixture.
If you put ATI bulbs in it, you'll be able to grow, anything, anything.

 

I use a simple fixture with a 10' cord so I have plenty of cord to reach my outlets available at any hardware store. Or if you prefer, you can use a drafting table lamp. Also IKEA has some good fixtures that are not too expensive. Two par 38's should be enough for a 20L, I had to move my birds nest down some because it was starting to bleach some.

The only thing with the par 38's especially if you have 60 degree optics is they tend to spotlight and you will have areas of shadow/intense light depending on where you place them. You may need to raise them off the top of the water quite a bit to get even coverage.

And I suppose my frag tank has turned into a reef tank of sorts but I still believe the basics like LR and CUC are important for a frag tank as well as any other tank.

 

Something like this, or two.
AquaticLife T5 HO Light Link Fixture - FreshWater


Or go overkill with this...
AquaticLife T5 HO 4-Lamp Light Fixtures w/ Lunar LEDs

 

Yes the initial cost of the lights are a bit more, but you don't have to worry about replacing the bulbs, no heat transfer to your tank, and they only use 20 watts of power a piece! If you can find some used you can get them for even less, I paid $60 for mine and they were less than 1 year old! I figure I have at least 4 more years worth of use out of them. I will break even after 1 year of use and that is not counting the energy savings! IMO, they can't be beat for a frag tank!

 

I concede, points taken. :-X

 

so could i Have 2 par 30s and still get birdsnest and acros.

 

yes the led lights will grow anything including clams ;D

t5 lights are not bad either but they do use more electricty and do have heat transfer, however they do allow for more of light color customizing than some of the non dimmable leds.

for a 20 long the lighting is a prefrence, as far as the skimmer, powerheads go I would get a decent skimmer that is 20 gallons rated over your actual tank size and powerheads that you can get a controller for later just to make the SPS happier.

my 2 cents

 

even par 30s wow that would be less than 240 dollars

 

does this look like a good light for sps. reefbreeders