I went from 500 Watts of MH and 108 watts of T5 to a 7 bulb T5 fixture.
I'm using my heater a lot now!
I use two bulbs for moonlights, three for my mainlights and the last two are a "noon" effect for only 4 hours a day.
I use very little electricity and my sps are fine. I would recommend a T5 setup rather than CF or VHOs. CF and VHOs have very little ability to penetrate the water whereas T5s have "punch", in that their output is very good and reaching the depths of the tank. For anemones, and sps if you want to get away from MH I would go T5.
That being said, the
new Tek lights, that is the "LE" Tek lights use newer and more efficient reflectors. I would go for at the very least their 6 bulb fixture. I've heard very good things about the aquatinics fixtures, I myself own their "Constellation" and I'm very happy with it. What sucks about the TEK fixture is that their is no active cooling which is no good with T5. If you want an all softy tank than it doesn't matter much but heat=output loss. The bulbs need to have constant air blowing over them which Tek does not provide. When the bulbs get hot the color shifts a little bit and their output drops like a rock. Some people have rigged laptop cooling fans to blow over the bulbs in Tek fixtures. It's not a pretty hack but it does greatly increase the efficiency and output of the fixture.
Your best bet would be a T5 retro. I'd stay away from the icecap retros as that is just WAY too much power IMO. The regular output T5s with
icecap reflectors is perfect! I myself like the
ATI Aquablue special bulbs. They are an 11k bulb with GREAT PAR.
