New Lights Advice

[mrflint179]

I would appreciate some advice on what type of new lights you guys would reccomend in 2 different situations. I am helping my brother setup his first saltwater fish tank. It's a 55 gallon(your typical tank not bow front or tall) has wet/dry filtration, couple power heads and just your basic lights that come with the hood on the tank. Right now he is almost done with the cycling process has had damsels in there for almost a month with no failures other than one eating another. All levels are correct but he is going to give it some more time before adding real fish, live rock, etc. He is toying with the idea of getting some high power lights and going either live rock with just some easy to care for corals(mushrooms,star polyps,etc) or possibly going for the full blown reef( Stoney corals, clams, etc.) stuff that would need more than a power compact setup. So given those 2 scenarios one being easy corals with power compacts and the other being hard to care for corals with metal hilide lights. What would you guys suggest for each scenario? Type of lights, name brands, wattage, etc. He does have some money to spend but would prefer to keep it reasonable. Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions under those 2 scenarios!

[diciple]

i would go t-5 either way the best light out is ATI powermodule or ATI sunpower i would go with the sun power 4 or 6 bulb fixture. Or a cheaper route would be the new coralvue t-5 fixture with led's check out the t-5 forums too lots of awsome tanks w/t-5 rich

[Myvirtue]

i went through reef geeks and got the 6 bulb ati sunpower... not only does my tank glow, but so does my room. its amazing. If the ati doesnt work, the tek elites are awesome too. Main reason i got the ati so if i want to upgrade tanks i can continue to use the light. only down fall with ati if you have tall ceilings you have to figure out a way to hang it... with the tek elite it comes with legs... from the research i got. you need to make sure u get a quality fixture, Ballast, reflectors and proper ventilation. if t5's get too hot then the bulbs dont last as long nor looks as good. theres alot of companys that claim they have individual reflectors for there lights have to be careful and do more research than they provide.

[lex2lo]

i just ordered my 48 inch nova extreme pro for 360 shipped its 6x54 watt t5 lighting which imo will let u keep 90% of what u would want. they are individually conutred reflectors not actuall individual but from a few threads that ive read up on the difference in par readings isnt much less than a tek unit, and its 200 bucks less and it has the fans built in and comes with bulbs. the bulbs arent the best but are good for the inital 6 months than u can start swapping them out according to the direction of reef you are building. hope that helps

[divewsharks]

i went through reef geeks and got the 6 bulb ati sunpower... not only does my tank glow, but so does my room. its amazing. If the ati doesnt work, the tek elites are awesome too. Main reason i got the ati so if i want to upgrade tanks i can continue to use the light. only down fall with ati if you have tall ceilings you have to figure out a way to hang it... with the tek elite it comes with legs... from the research i got. you need to make sure u get a quality fixture, Ballast, reflectors and proper ventilation. if t5's get too hot then the bulbs dont last as long nor looks as good. theres alot of companys that claim they have individual reflectors for there lights have to be careful and do more research than they provide.

you can easily make (or buy) a light hanger that either mounts to the wall behind the tank or is attached to the tank stand.

[Myvirtue]

and i easily hung mine.....