good lighting for a pseudo nano

Yeah so i have an eclipse 12 gallon and i have to change the lighting badly. Does anyone have any suggestions on a nice, affordable, lighting system. I've been looking around the interweb and basically i cant quite decide what to get. I'll probably mostly keep soft corals, leathers, polyps, mushroom, frogspawn, hammer, etc. (I know that the eclipse 12 gallon isnt really meant for saltwater, so....yeah) Preferably i would like to stay under $250. It's kinda hard to find the "deals", so to speak. Any suggestions, points in the right direction, or websites would be appreciated.

Thnx so much

Brad

 

I'd ditch the hood completely

Get a penguin HOB wet/dry or some similar, then get a coralife fixture + glass cover. The eclipse(s) as you said are really FW or fish only tanks :'(

Check out keeks1127's photos, they are what we did to an Eclipse 15g

 

I would say a 70 watt metal halide would do the trick. You would need to open the top.
Ballast $30
Bulb 14k...... Or find a cheaper one some where else.
For a reflector you could make a canopy or get a cheap light from home depot and take out the bulb and hook up this guy.

 

you can get 70w clamp on pendants for nano tanks pretty cheap just about anywhere, and they complete with everything you need. I think fosters and smith has a few pretty reasonable, and under $250 for sure.

 

www.marinedepot.com sells a 70w HQI MH clip on light for $150. The JBJ K-2 Viper HQI clamp on lighting fixture. They also have a 150w for $199