My new lights... I think...

[h8z2luze]

I am thinking about getting this fixture. What do you guys think?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12772&pcatid=12772

 

[cmor1701d]

What do you want to have in the tank?
That's nowhere near enough light for most corals, though you could add some mushrooms, perhaps a Colt Coral, and Star or Zoanthid polyps.

 

[h8z2luze]

Then what do I need cause I want to get corals down the road and might as well get the right lights now. Please help me out on this guys im so lost on the light part of reefkeeping there is way to many choices!!!

 

[fijiwigi]

Do you have about 750 dollars to spend? if so there are some options that will give you about 500+ watts enough for just about any coral. Better to spend the money now then wish you had in the beginning.

 

[NoSvOrAx]

You could go to hellolights and buy a couple of 250 watt electronic ballasts, 2 hqi reflectors, and 2 12000k hqi mh bulbs for about 400. You gotta connect it yourself but its not hard, completely safe, and alot cheaper.

But how big is the tank? Might need less...

 

[h8z2luze]

its a 37G 36" long I really dont want to spend much more than 200 I can do without the hard corals Maybe just soft corals? I just dont want to put my life savings in it lol wait i dont have a life savings..... uh oh....

 

[NoSvOrAx]

Oh, I thought it was a bigger tank. 1 250 watt metal halide is fine for that tank. If you go with a 14000k you don't even need actinics. Would cost you right at 200 bucks to do it yourself. You should be able to have just about any coral. The more demanding ones would just have to go nearer to the surface.

 

[ccCapt]

You are talking about the T5 HO's....156w? Those light are fine IMO for just about any softie or LPS.
250w MH is overkill for your tank, unless your tank is deeper than about 25". If you want MH, 175 is plenty.

 

[h8z2luze]

I don't really want a DIY thing and I like the look of the T5 I posted with the legs is there anything like that I can use? My tank is 16" deep BTW.

 

[fijiwigi]

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=237
This is what I have about the same price as what you are looking at and more wattage. I have it on a 46g bow its 198 watts giving my 4wpg but if you have a 36" 37 gallon thats 5.35 watts per gallon which may even be enough for some SPS corals maybe(someone else may have to chime in on that) Its definately not enough for my tank though.

I am wanting to get more wattage to eventually do SPS (I thought I could get away with what I have but I am however becomeing addicted to this)
I was wondering if anyone had some thoughts on adding a pendant light on top of the lunar aqualight I have. https://www82.safesecureweb.com/webaquatics/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CAPH1P

 

[h8z2luze]

Sweet thats probably the one i am going to get. I like coralife and the atinic light along with the LED's. But is Compact Florecent enough? Shouldnt it be metal halide or T5? I still dont really understand the diffrence sorry....

 

[fijiwigi]

Take a look at Kurt Nelson's gallery he has the same lighting fixture on his 46g and some nice looking corals. With your tank being only 37 gallon you would have stronger lighting than him and I with that fixture. Your tank is not as tall And if you put enough rock in it and place a coral high enough you may have some good options on what you can purchase later on down the road. Just remember it will be some time before you can add a coral my tank is about 3months mature and it will probably be another 3months before I purchase my first coral.

 

[h8z2luze]

Ya i am aware of the fact you have to wait for the tank to mature before adding coral for sure.

 

[ccCapt]

T5 HO's are more intense than CF. Wattage isn't a good way to guage the difference in them. Compare a 175w mh to 2 100w light bulbs. MH is less wattage, but drastically more intense

 

[fijiwigi]

So how do you gauge light saturation more effectively?? And is it possible to have too much lighting? Brighter is better correct, as long as it is not producing excessive heat.

which would be the better choice for h8z2luze's situation the T5 HO fixture or the Coralife CF. Is a 156W of HO more saturation than a 198W of CF??? Or are they the same

 

[ccCapt]

Light saturation is generally based on water clarity and par value of the bulb...among other things (reflectors, dist from water, etc). T5's have a much higher PAR value than CF.
You can have too much light for certain corals, but never too much light for others. I have 2 175w MH and 4 NO 40w floursecents on my 75. I have a small frag of some kind a leather a local reefer gave me a few years ago. It has not grown at all, while my SPS grow very nicely.
Which light to use is user preference. What do you want to keep? There are many people who keep SPS coral with lots of T5's, while I don't know of anyone using CF only and having success with SPS. Comes down to what you want to keep.

 

[cmor1701d]

I recall a lot of discussions around T5's when they first becoming popular a couple of years ago. The reflector made a huge difference in the amount of light output. As I recall the better reflectors were highly polished and W shaped with each bulb in the center of its own W.

Coralife also makes a nice MH fixture that is 1x150W 10000K HQI MH with 2x65W Actinic 03 PC. It runs around $500.00

 

[h8z2luze]

Ya like i said I only want to spend around 200 or so. Thanks for all the input though. I am still confused. I would like to get hard corals down the road but i am just not willing to put up 500 for lights.

 

[ccCapt]

The reflector made a huge difference in the amount of light output.

That is true of of any lighting system, however it does not affect output, it affects how much of the output is directed down into the tank where we want it.

The light you picked at the top of this thread will work nice for you. Here's a huge thread on T5's and hard corals.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1230776

 

[h8z2luze]

Ok made my decision thanks to a lot of help from you guys especially CC here is my decision... The 36" pro model but i am going to replace one of the actinics with a 10k bulb so I will have 156W of 10K and 78 of actinic T5 HO lighting Notice the PRO MODEL picture below the other ones. (yes i went a little over my goal budget but we all do!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+16770&pcatid=16770