light fixture recommendations?

[Jereli]

i have a 60 gallon long tank and i currently have 130watts on it compact fluorescent...i want to upgrade the lights to ba able to have more of the hard corals..any recommendations? maybe something that doesnt run so hot and over heat my tank?

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[Jereli]

is this any good? i dont know much about lighting but the price seems really cheap which makes me wonder

48

 

[Jereli]

does any one have any recommendations?

 

[iDream]

How long is the tank? I'm assuming 4ft since that's how long the fixture you linked is. I would look into T5HO fixtures, fishneedit.com, Sunlight Supply Tek, and Current USA.

For hard corals look in the 4-8 bulb range, probably more 6-8

 

[Jereli]

Yea its a 4 ft long..i been seeing there is VHO, metal halide, T5...etc. Is there any benefits over one another? And differences?

 

[iDream]

Metal Halides are hot and expensive, also energy suckers, but very powerful. It seems like they are on a downturn in the aquarium community to me. My LFS was saying everyones trying to sell their halides and switching to T5s

VHO=Very high output if I'm not mistaken, not sure what the difference is between those and T5HOs, I think melosu has VHOs

With individual reflectors a good T5HO fixture with the right amount of bulbs are much more efficient and no where near as hot as halides.

IMHO T5HO is the best way to go, the suggestions I gave above are what you'll want to look at

 

[melosu58]

IMHO T5HO is the best way to go, the suggestions I gave above are what you'll want to look at

T5HO would be my suggestion also.

 

[Jereli]

Ok thanks that makes sense....so with the LED light fixtures does wattage per gallon not play a anymore ? I hardly see any led fixtures with wattage any where near all these other fixtures but they say their for reef

 

[iDream]

You've got it right, since LEDs are such low-wattage but very powerful (Depending on which type of LEDs) it doesn't play a part. But then again the old wpg rule isn't very useful anymore.

 

[Jereli]

thanks.. Ill try looking into leds it would probably save me in long run... Any led kits or fixtures recommended?

 

[iDream]

I personally don't know of any that would be relatively low-cost for such a long tank, try asking Flake about what she has set up for her 90G

 

[Jereli]

Alright thats cool..ill just look into what I am going to purchase..thanks for the help and clarificAtion

 

[Jereli]

Does anyone have any insight on the 48" marineland led light? Can I use this light for most corals? I don't really want to be limited to what corals I can keep. I have a 60 gallon tank that is 48" long... Can this be my only means of light?

 

[iDream]

Those marineland fixtures I wouldn't use to keep anything but soft corals, and that's closer to the top. It's not a very strong fixture and kind of a waste IMO..

I know they're expensive but maybe look into ecoxotic fixtures

 

[Jereli]

what do you guys think between these two fixtures?

48'' T5 HO Aquarium Light 6x 54 watt Reef w/ Moonlights | eBay

or

Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO and Lunar Light Fixtures 48"

very undecided. need help!

 

[Jereli]

or how about this one?

48" Nova Extreme Pro 6x54watt T5HO 10K/460nm Hood | eBay

 

[iDream]

All 3 will give you great results coral-wise. If you go for the 6-lamp, IMO get the Nova Extreme Pro, it has fans to cool and I've never heard of the regular Nova Extreme being 6-lamp, only 2-4.

If you go for 4 bulbs just get the one from fishneedit.com, it'll probably be cheaper

 

[Jereli]

Ok thanks I kind of liked the built in timer feature on the quatic life..any one else have any input? Anyone running these lights?

 

[iDream]

I believe someone is, just use the search bar and type aquaticlife.

I guess it's just a preference, I personally wouldn't spend the extra on a built-in timer since I always have my actinics on and my daylights are on a timer