ready for new lights

[marlinmero]

I'm finally ready to get rid of my PC lights. im pretty sure im going with T-5's cause im not buying a chiller and right now my tanks temp is already at 85. "i got a fan on her now cooling it off". Myquestion where and what are the best light fistures to get. i have a 75 gallon with mostly softies. plus a maxima clam and sum montipora and zoo's. but wouldnt mind getting sum nice hard corals. i was looking at the Nova extreme pro. thru pet mountain.com and the the tek-5 6 bulb thru sunlight supply. any other suggestions or somments on those two would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[lizardarm]

If you've got a canopy you might look at a retrofit kit. Other than the ballast crapping out (which is rare for IC) I've been pretty happy with my IceCap retro kit; the cost is more reasonable than a fixture.

 

[marlinmero]

i dont have a hood. all i have right is my PC light hodd that im going to sell once i get my new ones. and im hoping for a 6 or 8 bulb setting. what website can i find those? i could build a hood pretty easy

 

[lizardarm]

I believe that I bought mine from marinedepot.com or it may have been premiumaquatics.com. I do check em both out because I do remember there being
a bit of a price difference between the two; this was a couple of years ago now though.
there's a thread right now of a member that has a 75 with T-5's that looks pretty nice:
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46737

 

[reefreefer]

I just got mine a few months back from marine depo Current X8 T5 HO 4 460nm 4 10k around $350

 

[Myteemouse]

also get Tek lights from sunlight supply.
kinda spendy though.

 

[marlinmero]

I''l have to check all those out. I like the tek lights. i have actually seen then up and running and they look good. someone told me about there the other day. anybody have any experience about them?
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?products_id=1421

 

[lizardarm]

My experience with CA (several years back now) is that they are, well, "budget", I guess is one way to describe it.

 

[marlinmero]

so a tek or nova would be a better bet then?
somebody just told me about these as well
http://www.fishneedit.com/2-x-150w-mhl-with-2-x-2bulbs-4ft-2150224.html

 

[reefreefer]

I'd rather have those, wish I knew a few Months back.

 

[reef18ster]

Halides give the more natural sunlight look with the glimmering light effect. The only thing is that they produce more heat. If you're going to go with T5s make sure each bulb have individual reflectors. Individual reflectors will help each bulb be more effective.

 

[luke33]

T5's and MH give out the same heat if they are the same wattage. A watt is a watt. They disperse heat differently, mh's are point source and t5's are spread accross the bulb. IMO its easier to cool the mh as its only a small space the heat is coming from. Just aim a fan under the mh lamp and your fine.

There's tons of options for a 75g tank. If you go with t5's get a 6x54w with individual reflectors. If you go with mh's i'd suggest a 2x250w setup. This way you can keep anything you want.

 

[reef18ster]

T5's and MH give out the same heat if they are the same wattage.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one Luke. Technically, if you centralize and confine (metal halide) the amount of wattage coming out, it will make it hotter versus spreading it out (T5) even though the two have the same wattage. This is one of the reasons why we can burn ants and things with a magnifying glass instead of them just burning up in flames on their own from the sun's rays. Same concept.

+1 on the 2x 250w setup thats what I have on my 75g.