I received my Aqualight today around lunchtime. It took no time to remove my old lights (twin 24" standard flourescents, 40 watts total) from my 30
gal tank and install the new Aqualight 96 watt. My first thought "holy smokes". It is extremely bright, and much more light than I had anticipated. My fish were a little skiddish at first, but by evening, they had settled down. I ordered the Freshwater version with the 6700K daylight bulb. It removed all dark spots from the tank, forcing me to "redevelop" caves/hiding spots. Other than that, I am very pleased with the purchase initially.
The only thing I dislike: having to order the support legs separately and install them. For the 36", it was relatively easy to install them. I can foresee possibly for the 48" lights, that you might need two people to install/adjust the legs. The legs, however, are great. They raise the light off the lid by about 2 inches, so you don't have to remove the light for feeding, water samples, etc.
My overall grade: A- (the minus is for purchasing the legs separately).
Initial Light Quality: A+
Purchase price: $99.99 (u.S.) for light, $8.99 for legs from
www.thatpetplace.com
I'll repost on this in about a month, and let you know how my plants have reacted to the light.