Comparable lighting units to Belize Sun?

[Eb0la11]

Hey everyone,

ok so my roommate and I are setting up our 150 gallon tank pretty soon. The only hardware we have yet to buy to run the thing is the lighting unit and some powerheads. We've got the powerheads covered pretty soon and we're addressing lighting.

Ideally we'd like to spend around 500 for a 6 foot lighting unit but Im not sure what would support a reef tank nicely that costs around that. We can't find many options that are used.

We've been looking at the Belize sun but its $1030 new and that is about as much as we've spent on everything so far incuding skimmer, RODI, tank, heaters and sump with pump... so we wouldnt be too thrilled.

Simply put, what other options are there that you guys like that we could look at? List whatever you think is good for a 6 foot reef tank. Thanks a ton.

[reefscape15]

If you are making a canopy which wouldn't be all that bad on a rectangular tank, i'd go with something like this:

3-Reef optix retrofit reflectors: $180
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/10966/product.web

3-Blue Wave Single Ended Metal Halide Ballasts: $300
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203366/product.web

2-XM 15k Single Ended bulbs: $140
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203829/product.web

1-XM 20k Single Ended bulb: $70
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203822/product.web

1-VHO ballast: $45
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/15437/product.web

2-Pairs of endcaps: $20
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203166/product.web

2-140watt VHO Actinic bulbs: $55
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/209817/product.web

A grand total of $810+ tax and shipping. Now these products may not be the best, and I know that the Coralife VHO bulbs aren't great, but it's a start. I'm pretty sure you could find everything in different brands for roughly around the same price. If you aren't building a canopy, you can still maybe make a small shelf to suspend your lighting from. If you can read the diagrams that come with the ballasts, it's really pretty easy to wire everything up. This is still pretty pricy, but when you go DIY you can pick and choose exactly what you want, and if you buy a pre-made fixture, you will probably want to switch out the bulbs soon after you get it anyways. I hope this gives you somewhere to start looking.

[nikon187]

you are going to need to budget more for your lighting. I don't think any 6' fixtures come in at under $500. you could retro fit 6 60" T5 in there from reefgeek but you will still be at $720 ( American). Your lighting, protien skimmer and live rock are your most expensive purchases

[VacavilleFC3S]

odyessea fixtures from aquatraders com

[Eb0la11]

Ok, that definitely gives me a bit of a better idea of whats out there. Just wondering if I want a reef tank what kind of lighting is important? I know this is probably up to the aquarist, and we'll get arguments from both sides but for instance, should I have some compact, some metal halide, some LED, and some T5 lighting or what?

I think I need to read through that crazy lighting section waterkeeper wrote up again... though it confused the hell out of me already.

What kind of wattage will I need to sustain "most" corals? Do fish require much special lighting?

[reefscape15]

Fish need only enough lighting to see in the day. In all reality, if you have a window in the room where the tank is, that would be enough light for only fish. Corals however need pretty strong lighting. If you aren't determined on an all SPS tank, you can get away with all T-5 lighting, but I remember you saying in another thread that you were hoping to be able to keep anything you want. I really love the looks of Metal Halide, mostly because of the super intense shimmer you get out of them, but i've seen a couple all SPS tanks under all T-5's. I'm not sure how they did this, or how many bulbs they were running, if they were overdriven...but they DID make it work. It's just much easier if there's a nice MH light feeding your frags.

http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_Pro_T5_72_inch_Current_USA_p/rcu01082.htm

$599 for this Current fixture. It has individual reflectors, but I think all the bulbs are 10k and 460nm actinics, which you will most likely want to change out. The fixtures are great, but the Current bulbs aren't the best. ATI, Giesmann, UVL are great T-5 bulb brands. You could always start out with just all T-5's and add Metal Halide pendants if you want later on.

This may also be an option for you:

2-Ice Cap 660 Ballast: $360
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203165/product.web

8-Single Light Reflectors: $200
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/218602/product.web

4-pairs T-5 waterproof endcaps: $40
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/885/product.web

8-T-5 bulbs: $160-200
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Replacement_Bulbs/T5_Fluorescent/54_Watt/

I guess it would be between $750-800 for all that anyways, but it would give you again, exactly what colors you want. Also if you did 48" bulbs on individual reflectors, you could stagger them to cover you entire tank. You'd have a great amount of light right in the center, which would fade out in intensity towards the ends. You might be better off just getting a pre-made fixture. Lighting has so many options, it's almost impossible to tell someone what to get, but I hope that these options are at least giving you something to look at and get some ideas from

[Eb0la11]

What do you guys think of this model? It has higher wattages than the Belize Sun and is 400 bucks cheaper. Only thing it seems to be missing is the built in cooling fans. Our tank will be in a cool basement as is and I think we'll have it open top to release heat so not sure if we'll be ok considering we live in Canada where its pretty cold and worst case scenario we could stand a fan by the tank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/72-Metal-Halide-250-T5-HO-Aquarium-Light-Moon-New_W0QQitemZ180363268721QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item29fe7d1271&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

The auction ends soon.

[reefscape15]

It looks like it may work, and if it does, that would be an awesome fixture. But, there is no name brand, and it's hard to say if it's of any quality or not. Some of the lights you find that are super cheap are just that...super cheap in cost and quality. I've heard stories of ballasts failing, things wired incorectly, bulbs exploding, etc. If you're up for the gamble, it may very well be a great find, but I have a very hard time believing that something with that high of a light output for almost half the price of anything else would last all that long. Just be sure that if you do get it, you should always be ready to buy some new ballasts just in case.

[griffithimage]

you could try the homby lights on ebay a well

[Eb0la11]

Hmmmm, tough choice. I wish I could just get the hamilton but I just cant afford something like that right now. I feel like after shipping and exchange rate it'll be like 1500 for the hamilton lights.

The pricing listed on the hamilton lights online is in American currency right?