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November 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Reef lighting
I have a 55 gallon reef been up and running for eight months now. I am currently using pc lighting and looking to upgrade. I am looking for a for a HO T5 unit with four bulbs. I like to stay away from those fixtures with built in timers as I am told the timers go bad and the whole unit is worthless. I would like one AC plug if possible, and moonlighting. There are a lot of good and bad fixtures out there, I like to here what people are using. Any input would be appreciated. Oh and I am looking for a unit with the bulbs included. | 
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November 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Do you have a canopy? | |
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November 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ATP  Do you have a canopy? | no open top | |
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November 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| What kind of corals do you like and want to taker care? In general so meaning like softies, SPS, LPS. | |
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November 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ATP What kind of corals do you like and want to taker care? In general so meaning like softies, SPS, LPS. | I have a bubble coral, frogspawn, torch, some shrooms, zoas, lethers, I like to get a maxima clam and a few sps. | |
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November 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by carlos413 I have a bubble coral, frogspawn, torch, some shrooms, zoas, lethers, I like to get a maxima clam and a few sps. | You could get away with T-5's with some SPS, but they will grow better under metal halides. Can I ask you how much you're willing to sped?
ATP,     | |
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November 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ATP | around $300 | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| So I have done some research and I have decided that I am going to go with A Wave Point HO four T5 lamps fixture. Check out the link. Let me know what you think. And if you have one or had one or know someone who does Id like some input. http://www.wave-point.com/Lighting_f...xtureMain.html | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| link doesn't work.
Do your math in terms of light quantity (light intensity: wattage as fair guideline, lumens better) and quality (light spectrum: Kelvin as fair guideline, spectrum peaks better).
A unit with four F54T5HO, say two actinic and two at 10,000K. Would that suffice? Well, it depends on the corals you want to keep and the specifics of your tank (e.g. dimensions, aquascaping, coral location).
I have some open top tanks, including my 20gal custom built Nano Reef. Since it is 24" H, with a deep sand bed of 6", I considered a depth of 18" for my lighting needs. I ended up building a DIY lamp assembly housing six 20W T8 and four 24W T5HO. All I got available locally were actinic T5HO. I used two more actinics in the T8 and mixed and matched with two 18,000K and two 10,000K.
Too much or too little light can be a major problem. So take your time.
Pepetj
Santo Domingo | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by pepetj link doesn't work.
Do your math in terms of light quantity (light intensity: wattage as fair guideline, lumens better) and quality (light spectrum: Kelvin as fair guideline, spectrum peaks better).
A unit with four F54T5HO, say two actinic and two at 10,000K. Would that suffice? Well, it depends on the corals you want to keep and the specifics of your tank (e.g. dimensions, aquascaping, coral location).
I have some open top tanks, including my 20gal custom built Nano Reef. Since it is 24" H, with a deep sand bed of 6", I considered a depth of 18" for my lighting needs. I ended up building a DIY lamp assembly housing six 20W T8 and four 24W T5HO. All I got available locally were actinic T5HO. I used two more actinics in the T8 and mixed and matched with two 18,000K and two 10,000K.
Too much or too little light can be a major problem. So take your time.
Pepetj
Santo Domingo | Thanks pepe, I think they come with 12000k. btw are you relly in DR, CUZ I AM IN PR? | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I use a Current Nova Extreme Pro 6x 39W T5 fixture over my 50 gallon reef. I really like the fixture, but you aren't going to find it for $300 new for sure. Unfortunately, I don't think a 4 bulb fixture is going to provide enough light for clams and most sps corals. Even with 6 bulbs, I've lost several acro frags and wouldn't think of trying a clam. Maybe if I built up the rockwork higher it would work, but IMO would be a bare minimum for most sps. Although my tank is only 3' long, it is shorter than your 55, which works to my benefit for lighting.
Just a thought. | 
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