T5 lights

[Justin1989]

Eventually when setting up my tank I was going to just buy a kit for $180; this was until I decided I will want to corals eventually. I am going to buy the tank and top separately; and am looking for a rather decent price for T5 fixtures. I do believe Halides are probably going a little overboard however I could be wrong. Any suggestions? The tank is 48x13x(18 or 20); it is a 55 gallon.

Is this set any good? the 48" marine

Coralife Aqualight Double Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13733

I know its recommended 4-6 watts per gallon, and this is not something I am setting up right away. Corals will come down the road, however I don't want a useless lighting system then just to upgrade.

 

[sqrle]

Well you could goa couple of ways with it. If you don't mind to spend a couple of extra dollars and a bi handy with a saw and hammer, you could build yourself a canopy that could house Halides. You can get them failry cheap on E-bay or from a hydroponic store. But, if you don't want to do that, there are many companies that make a 48" fixture that will fit on a 55gallon that have both the actinics and the halides. Some come with the led lights for night (moon) lighting. Here is an example. I am not sure of the quality of the lighting system itself though. But when buyin lighting, go by the old adage "you get what you pay for" 48" Metal Halide Aquarium Reef Light 716W T5 HO LED NEW - eBay (item 300302177152 end time Mar-31-09 12:05:01 PDT)

Like you said though that you don't want a useless lighting system then just to upgrade. You might as well go for gold and get a better lighting system than a T5. Don't get me wrong, T5s are great, but halides are better.

 

[Innovator]

The set you list is power compact and not T5, incase there was any confusion. I would not purchase any lighting from Ebay, especially T5, without knowing all the Manufacturer parts (most of the time they are cheap knock-offs with poor quality). For a fixture I would either go with an ATI 4x54w or an Aquatinics TX5 (5x54w). If you want to build your own canopy a Tek or IceCap 4x54w.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL75/25
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Aquablue

or if a TX5 just add another Blue Plus, UVL 75/25, or an Aquablue depending on how tinted blue you want aesthetically.

 

[Justin1989]

Setting up halides would be great you are right; but out of my price range. Granted I understand where your coming from; brand new fixtures for halides are crazily expensive.

I do not mind spending $250 at most for lighting. And that's pushing what I wanted to spend. However I am slightly confused; is there a difference between using T5's and the Compact fixture I posted?

 

[Innovator]

T5 lighting is more expensive than PC, but much more efficient. T5's are flourescent bulbs that run cooler and brighter (better par per watt?) along with giving the user many more coloration options. ReefGeek.com is my preferred retailer unless you go with Aquatinics.

 

[krap101]

PC's are basically bent t5's. The main difference is in the (forget the term) but the amount of light lost when it is reflected back into the bulb. PC's are cheaper, so I went with them.

 

[GhostKnife]

I just bought the t5 current usa nova extreme for my tank(still setting up). It is awesome. Plus it will be good for my corals. It has 4x54 watt actinic blues 4x54 watt 10k daylight lights(mixed together its quite blinding with nothing in the tank and the glare off the glass...haha) and 4 white lunar leds. I have blue leds on my FW tank and love em. I did not think i was going to like the white lights and was going to order 3/4 watt blue leds yet i waited and Im glad I did as the white lights are awesome as well and literally looks as if the moon were beaming into my soon to be filled reef tank.

 

[CTD]

Post pics when you get a chance. Please

 

[Justin1989]

I have come down to going with T5 HO's; but just to clarify.

Two of these 48" Double's
(Aquarium Lighting for Planted & Reef Aquariums: Hagen GLO T5 HO Linear Fluorescent Fixtures)

Would be better than
Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Aqualight Double Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

 

[mr86mister]

Hey Justin. You have officially opened a can of confusion. For at least 10 year's now there has been discussion on which is better, T5's or CF(power compacts). Well it comes down to the reflectors. Power Compacts are great, I have one set over my reef tank. The problem with this is that only 25% of the light goes directly into the tank while the rest directs up and both sides and doesn't always get reflected back into the tank. I also have the Hagen Glo t5's over the same tank in conjunction with the CF's. With the correct reflectors you can get over %50 more light put back into your tank using the t5's so it is not wasted. The only problem with the Hagen is there are no individually contoured reflectors or individual reflectors at all. So it won't put out as much light as we had hoped into the tank because some of it is reflected back into the bulb wasting energy. T5's have also been known to shine with intensity deeper in a tank than CF. (Don't quote me on any of this, I just did tons of research and this is nearly my opinion out of what I had read)

Sorry if this has confused you. But I am in the process of getting new lighting myself and have decided to go with t5's after doing tons of research online. We all live on a budget these days so I was looking for some bang for my buck.

Hope this helps Justin!

 

[Justin1989]

Thank you for the help; and from what I have read I have realized yes T5's are more efficient. I just want to make sure I'm making the right purchase lol.

 

[Innovator]

You get what you pay for so make sure your lighting is up to snuff. The Nova series is considered a low-end fixture with the Tek's above that followed by IceCap, Aquatinics, and ATI. Most of the quality control in low-end fixtures consist of the ballasts, reflectors, and even cooling.

 

[GhostKnife]

Here ya go fellas here are my newly purchased lights where I should be able to house everything from sps to lps.
Daylight and actinics

Just the actinic blues

And another shot of actinics and 10k daylight lights

 

[GhostKnife]

You get what you pay for so make sure your lighting is up to snuff. The Nova series is considered a low-end fixture with the Tek's above that followed by IceCap, Aquatinics, and ATI. Most of the quality control in low-end fixtures consist of the ballasts, reflectors, and even cooling.

I dont quite follow how you came about this conclusion. This is the first thing I heard that had a negative say on the nova fixtures. The current usa nova extreme I received has had very few bad reviews. Now icecaps I have heard good things about... however I think most lighting choices are choice and personal preference. However I would like to know where you got that information as I could sell mine if something better was out there for the price.

 

[Innovator]

From users and those who study lighting systems I've seen time and again recommendations of Tek, IceCap, and the others I mentioned over Nova series due to better ballasts, reflectors, and other internal parts. I'm not stating they are bad lights, but they are considered by many to be low on the totem pole as far as T5 lighting options are concerned. If you are satisfied with what you have then I see no need to replace the fixture, but I would check out RC for the T5 Question/Answer thread just to start.

 

[mgamer20o0]

i know nothing about sw but there is a couple places with cheap t5's

T5-HO Light
Catalina Aquarium Solar T5

 

[gzeiger]

I can't recommend that Catalina highly enough - individual reflectors, high light output, outstanding customer service and quality components. I've been running one on my freshwater tank with some extremely light-demanding plants, and it's been great. The reflectors are especially well-made, and send very little light anywhere but straight down into the tank.

Compared to the 4x65W you posted, this is almost the same power output, but it gives you a lot more control over lighting type. The one you posted is 4x21" bulbs, meaning if you change out one bulb (Actinic to full spectrum, for example) you'd have to change out two or else you'd have made the change to only half your tank. With that fixture you'd be stuck with 50% Actinic, 50% full spectrum. With the Catalina you could choose 75% one way or the other, or with the combination bulbs they make you can fine-tune it even more.

It doesn't have moonlights, but that isn't hard to do.

 

[sherman9]

????????????????

 

[mr86mister]

What is with the ?'s sherman? Is something confusing you? We are here to help.

 

[Justin1989]

I have been looking between PC and T5, and honestly I know more people choose T5 because they are more efficient. So I have been looking at a T5 Quad 48", 2- 12000k's and 2-Actinic blues. Also 4 blue LED's; All of course 54Watts.

The other set I was looking at is a Quad PC set which has 2-12000k's and 2-Actinic's and 8 blue LED's.

The first set is $130 buyout on ebay and the second set is a straight out bid.

Leaning towards the T5's.

Also while I am at it instead of creating a new thread, I am looking at a UV sterilizer by coralife, 3X. Anyone use these uv sterilizers?

Also as much as I know its not needed. was looking into a fluval filter with possibly just using filter pads and fine polishing pads. Something off ebay which probably wouldn't be to expensive however have a decent rate. Would using a canister filter be to powerful of a pump to use a uv sterilizer? I realize at certain gph the uv sterilizer does better at bacteria or algae. http://www.aquatichouse.com/uvsterilizer_files/CoralifeTurboTwist.pdf shows theres.