lighting for hopeful reef tank

[luxauterna]

Hey everyone, I am relatively new to marine tanks. I have quite a bit of experience with freshwater, but as we all know, marine tanks take some special attention, including proper lighting, especially when setting up a reef tank. So, my tank is 45 - 50 gal, cubish, and I am trying to find the most economical but still efficient lighting for the tank. I have been searching online for a month and was hoping to get some feedback from everyone on lights that have worked well for you. Ive been looking at coralife aqualights, nova lights, all t5 and most likely HO, if I can find a decent price. Anyone use the nova extreme t5 HO dual lighting?

Thx! by the way the dimensions are 24 wide x 24 tall x 18 deep

[bunzaroo]

What kind of corals are you planning to keep??? What kind of budget are you looking at?

[mike_cmu04]

T5's are nice you could also use a single 250w metal halide

[coraladict]

i had a 150 metal halide for my tank a few weeks ago and switched to T5's and i love it because theres soooo much more color variety as opposed to 10k 14k and 20k.

i saw get t5s

[xiaoyu04]

Hey everyone, I am relatively new to marine tanks. I have quite a bit of experience with freshwater, but as we all know, marine tanks take some special attention, including proper lighting, especially when setting up a reef tank. So, my tank is 45 - 50 gal, cubish, and I am trying to find the most economical but still efficient lighting for the tank. I have been searching online for a month and was hoping to get some feedback from everyone on lights that have worked well for you. Ive been looking at coralife aqualights, nova lights, all t5 and most likely HO, if I can find a decent price. Anyone use the nova extreme t5 HO dual lighting?

Thx! by the way the dimensions are 24 wide x 24 tall x 18 deep

depending on what you are looking for.

Another potential option is getting PAR38 spotlights and using that to light your tank. T-5's and MH works well too. If you want to keep light heavy corals, i'd recommend something more than the nova extreme t5...maybe something with 4xt5 lamps.

[footballdude2k3]

i have a 40 breeder, i have the 6 bulb nova extreme pro, love it. one of my friends has it and you can keep anything under it, LPS, SPS, Clams

[luxauterna]

thx everyone, yea im leading towards t5, I wasn't planning on having too many heavy light demanding corals. Simple stuff like mushrooms, polyps, kenya tree, etc. Clams would be sweet, but I dont really have it in my budget to get a $250 fixture unfortunately, or else I would definitely scoop up a 4 or 6 bulb HO t5 fixture

[artemus]

One thing you will soon learn is that your budget will spontaneously combust when you start buying for your new hobby. Don't go cheap on your lighting. You will regret it later down the road. Actually that rule will apply to most anything you get...

gl

[IslandCrow]

Although I'm a big proponent of T5s, for cube tanks, I'd lean more towards metal halides. Their light pattern is just more conducive to cube tanks, whereas fluorescents are often a bit more efficient on longer tanks. You can of course choose the wattage of your halide based on what you wish to keep. T5s are certainly an option, but realize that they actually get less efficient as the tube length decreases. . .or at least that's what I've been told by those I would consider experts on this board.

[flare1185]

check craigslist sometimes u can good fixture for half the price used im constantly on it tk check for cheap stuff to collect that and the for sale forum here

[ScubaJ813]

T5's are nice you could also use a single 250w metal halide

This was my first thought. Check out www.fishneedit.com for a decent and inexpensive MH pendent. They have T5HO as well but have no experience with their T5HO but do hear good things about the most current versions with remote e-ballasts.

Their MH pendent, while cheap, is superb for the money. I have 3 and about to buy a fourth once my next tank is set up. Their bulbs are mediocre, they come with everything you need, their mounting legs are flimsy and cheap but sure enough they give out some decent light.

[Kache]

I would go with a tek sunlight supply t-5 fixture. Or a t-5 retro fit kit. I wouldn't go with mh to much heat and more $ for bulbs. Get a 24" fixture. Get on reefgeek.com. And check out sunlight fixtures.

[TheBends]

If you "don't have the money" for lighting, you probably won't have the money for anything that NEEDS lighting. Just a thought.

For cube tanks, I would go with a MH.

[vwtanker]

Save money, buy the best you can. I like led, mh, and t5. Led is still to expensive and t5 uses a lot less electricity. The most important thing is not to rush out and buy something that you will want to replace in a few months. I would go with at least a 4 bulb t5. If you can find led with the same output for the same price let me know :) seriously!

[luxauterna]

thx everyone, I think I'm going to go with the 4 light aqualight t5ho fixture, instead of mh, for heat and electricity reasons.