Lighting suggestions???

[stricknine]

Im building a new set-up, 72 gal bowfront w/ 30 gal sump/fuge, and the next purchase is going to be a light fixture. I have read a lot about T5 vs MH, and think I want a T5 due to the upfront cost, even spread, and less heat. (correct me if im wrong)

The trouble I am having is finding a good T5 thats ready out of the box. I keep seeing everybody say they replace the lamps and ballasts right away, get replacement reflectors, add fans etc. Id rather buy a good light rather than a tin housing and diy from there on.

Any suggestions on a good online or LFS fixture?

THANKS!

[EvMiBo]

What are the dimensions of your tank (mostly the length). Have you thought about retrofit kits (not sure if you have a canopy or not)?

Checkout www.reefgeek.com 's Tek T5 fixtures (they are able to come with bulbs, nice ones) and their retrofit kits as well. The TEK fixtures don't have fans but you can run a clip-on fan for no more than $10. If you have a lot of $ and want the best of the best, checkout the ATI powermodules.

Another fixture that has fans and good reviews is the Nova Extreme Pro, though it's reflector isn't as well made as TEK and you don't get the choice of better bulbs.

[IslandCrow]

Reefgeek is a great suggestion for a website, and Teks are a very good unit. In addition to ATI, Aquactinics makes some units on the higher end (quality and of course price). As far as the pluses of T5s, you've pretty much got it. I'd add lower wattage requirement to get an equivalent PAR. And that's where the lower heat really comes from. Watt for watt, fluorescent lights produce as much heat as metal halide.

[stricknine]

The tank is 48" wide, 12" deep on the narrow sides and with canopy. The tek fixture looks good but hanging only? Can you buy kits to have the fixture sit on the tank?

Also, for a variety of corals and fish, how many T5 lamps would a guy need in a fixture? And also, what ratio of actinic to 10K is a good mix?

THANKS!

[stricknine]

Any reviews on the NOVA Extreme pro?

[IslandCrow]

There are legs for the Tek fixture that allows it to be mounted directly on the tank. I guess they've started charging extra for those, though. When I got mine, the legs were standard, and the hanging kit cost extra. From what I've heard of the Nova Extreme Pro, it sounds like a pretty good unit, but I don't know how it compares with the Tek. I'm pretty sure the reflectors are not as good, but it does have cooling fans. You may want to head over to the Equipment forum and ask Grim Reefer in his T-5 Q&A Thread. It gets posted to very regularly, so it should be towards the top.

As far as how many lamps, I'd use as many as you can fit. I can fit 5 on my 46g bowfront, which I think is about the same depth, but I don't believe there are that many 5 bulb out of the box setups. The Aquactinics solar flare is 5 bulbs I'm pretty sure, and it's about the best you can get (I basically did a DIY version), but you're going to pay a premium price for it. If you can't do 5, a good quality 4-bulb unit should still allow you to keep anything you want.

[EvMiBo]

The 48" NEP is 12" wide, and has 6 bulbs...

With the TeK, the 48" comes in 4bulb and 6bulb fixtures. But, the 6bulb is 16" wide (too wide for your tank). and the 4bulb is 12", it can fit your tank.

In this case I would probably look into the NEP 6bulb since it fits and you can have more light going in...

With your setup though, in the end I'd look into the Aquaactinics TX5 if you can afford (more than the NEP and TEK), theyre super compact, only 9.5" wide and have 5 bulbs. They have better reflectors than the NEP and TEK, and have cooling fans, can have legs, etc. check em out: http://www.aquactinics.com/pages/TX5.html I think island crow mentioned the solar flare http://www.aquactinics.com/pages/Solar_Flare.php which is a "better" version of the TX5, so the TX5 is more affordable. I think the solar flare is too wide for your setup anyways at 15".

hope that helps, good luck

[stricknine]

Many thanks,

Will definately look into both (TEK and TX5) based on cost, vendors, and availability. Solar flare is a little pricey.

Any advice on ratio of lamps - 10K vs actinic. 50 / 50 seems to be the norm? What about 10K vs 14K w/ actinic? Tank is only 24" deep.

THANKS!

[IslandCrow]

Yeah, the Solar Flare is a little overkill for most people, but I always like to throw it out there. I hadn't actually looked at the dimensions. Pretty much anything Aquactinics is good quality, though. If I were to buy a new fixture, Aquactinics would be high on my list.

[cornhusker85]

Ive got a TEK T-5 48" 6 Bulb light fixture and love it. As far as the lights my lights are set up as follows from front of tank to bank of tank:
Pure Actinic +
Actinic+
Aqua Blue+
Aqua Blue+
Actinic+
Actinic+

There all Geisman Bulbs but any bulbs will do as long as there not CoralLife ( had alot of friends with bad experience from Coral life bulbs).

[stricknine]

thanks husker,

May be a rookie question but what is the diff between pure actinic and actinic? Also, what is the "k rating" or degrees kelvin of the aqua blue?

Looks like your running 3:1 actinic to "daylight?", so I am going to assume-for what I can fit on to my tank- I would be better off to find a 5 lamp, 3:2 actinic to daylight...

...all agree?

THANKS!

[stricknine]

**2:1**, typo, Im really not that that mathematically challenged!

THANKS!

[EvMiBo]

Grim Reefer will know much more than me, maybe you should send him a PM.

Aqua blue's rating actually depends on which manufacturer you're talking about... ATI makes a 12k "Aquablue", Giesemann makes an 11k "Aquablue plus", and UV Lighting makes a 75/25 14k "Aquablue" -- picking from 54w bulbs on reefgeek... Checkout www.reefgeek.com 's bulb selection, they have graphs that give you an idea and a brief description on each bulb. It's a great site.