Coralife Lighting System Questions?

[b0bby1]

hey guys, i was offered a 24" Coralife Aqualight Pro the other day for 200, normally goes for 450. it comes with a double ended 150w 10k MH bulb and 2x65w actinics. now my tanks dimensions are 24x12x17, its a 20 gallon. my question is is this too much light for the tank?

(in my opinion i dont think so because the actinics really dont put out much power, they are there to add color, no sure though)

i was offered 250w of MH but i turned that down

[krzyphsygy]

250 watt in a 20gl in way overkill. A 150 would be ok IMO.

A 250 is too much. If I had it lying around though, I might try it. Just acclimate your corals very carefully with that light.....becuaes they might bleachout.

[b0bby1]

ya but is it true the actinics are not that powerful, just there for color. because i can get a good deal. its only 150w of MH along with 130w of actinics. but ya i think thats pushing it.

what lighting system would you recommend for my tank?

[DarG]

You can always raise the light if it is too intense. And / or, you can go with higher Kelvin, lower output halide bulb. The actinics are mainly there for color for bringing out the color / flourescence in the corals and also can help make the color look better to you. But they still do contribute to some to the lighting output. Some of the blue tubes do give out a respectable amount of light. If it comes with the purple looking actinics (420nm) then those certianly will not be a big source of the usable light output.
I think that most experts, and I'm not one of them, will tell you that you definitely do not need the halide to adequately light that tank but you should be able to make it work great by adjusting the height and / or by bulb choice.

[b0bby1]

the thing is it is on legs, so i can not raise it any higher than it would be.

[DarG]

Yes you can. You just have to be a little creative. You can hang it even if it didnt come with a hanging kit. You can put it up on some type of "blocks". But then again, you may not have to raise it. It may be fine at the height provided by the legs. But if you are worried about the light being too intense and working around the limits of the stock leg brackets, just keep what you have. Or go with T5 lighting. There are several different lighting choices and lots of different ways to implement them.

[DarG]

I should have added that I am talking about the 150 watt system, not the 250 watt.

[krzyphsygy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10203869#post10203869 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by b0bby1
ya but is it true the actinics are not that powerful, just there for color. because i can get a good deal. its only 150w of MH along with 130w of actinics. but ya i think thats pushing it.

what lighting system would you recommend for my tank? My bad......i though the MH was a 250 not including the Actinic. I would go for it. Try and get it for $150 though. I just sold a coralife fixture, it was the same thing only 2x150 watt MH 20k bulbs. it was 6 months old. I sold that for $200

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Go with this instead:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lighting_metal_halide_jbj_k2_viper_hqi_clamp.asp?CartId=

Either the 70W or 150W one should be sufficient (maybe the 150W if you plan on having SPS). The JBJ Viper lights have a better reputation than the Coralifes (and this is a new unit as opposed to a used one). You don't need actinics if you have a higher kelvin MH bulb. This fixture comes with a 14K bulb which should give a nice bluish-white color (I would probably buy a better bulb, but I'm sure it is sufficient to start with).

[krzyphsygy]

I have had 3 Coralife fixtures and 2 of them went out on me.

The good thing about Coralife is no warrenty B.S. they simply shipped me a new one when it went out. They are a stand up company with a great customer service rep in my book.

I really have respect for them, they took care of me every time!

[aninjaatemyshoe]

You didn't have to prove that you purchased it?

[krzyphsygy]

Believe it or not...."no". Consumers are not really expected to keep every receipt of items they purchase. The company I work for, we do not even ask anymore. If you said you bought it from us we will honor the return policy.

But that is why the company I work for made 40billion last year in sales. We take care of our customers..no questions asked. Even if your rip us off, you will still come back and buy!

[DarG]

Hydor didnt ask for receipts to replace my Koralias and Aquamedic didnt ask for one to replace an HQI bulb.

[krzyphsygy]

but we can not take advantage of that....we must stay honest so the companies trust us.