Coralife Aqualight Pro vs T5's

[TJSlayer]

OK just about to get my lights and wondering on pinions here....

Option A
NEW - 48" Current Usa Nova Extreme Pro - 6 HO (54 Watt) T5 Bulbs - Individual Like refelctors

or

USED - 48" Coralife Aqualight Pro - 2 x 150 Watt MH DE 2 96 Watt PC Lights with 3 moon Lights.

Want to be as flexible down the road when it comes to keeping corals so wondering what would be the best bang for the buck, both close to same price, but one is used....

Let me know your thoughts ASAP

Thanks
TJ

[andresont]

If you go with T5's make sure that you get good reflectors.
Individual "W" shaped or seagull wing shaped reflectors are the key of your success.
Any thing other then that is waste of money.

[saltyrockbox]

you will get more light from hte used MH fixture and the 96W CF bulbs are great also. I think my CF shine brighter then my T5s. CF are being replaced by T5s though...I got a new bulb today and there is a lot less selection of CF then there used to be...I would still go with the used MH fixture.

[fkshiu]

How deep is your tank? What are you planning on keeping long term? Exactly how "flexible" do you want to be? For example, if you want to keep crocea clams and SPS thriving on the bottom of a 30" deep tank, neither of these lights will cut it - not even close.

With proper bulb selection, both these lights are just "adequate" for keeping SPS/clams near the surface.

[TJSlayer]

Tank is a standard 75 Gallon so I think that's 18" deep...

I have no idea what I may want to keep in there a year from now hence why I asking which one would be etter in terms of flexibility.....

Hope that helps :(

Thanks for the help

[digital-audiophile]

T5's baby!

Better colour, better par, better in the long run.

The T5's would be more than adequate for SPS and clams and would easily outperform the 150MH.

[bv_reefer]

i can't believe i'm saying this:lol:, but in this case i'd go with the t5's, for one reason everyone complains about coralife bulbs, saying there crap. then again think through about what you plan to keep in the long run, if clams, sps and acans interest you, they thrive under intense light with great results, i know 70-175 watt are real popular with soft coral keepers. insufficient light makes clams look pretty dull and you don't get all the full colors you can. under 400 watt mh my clams and sps look great and are growing good, but my soft corals are pretty miserable about it. clam has nice highlights and stripes, i'm sure you could get the same with a good t5 fixture though-

[TJSlayer]

So far then even though the T5 wattage is lower it will give me better saturation in a 75 gallon tank then?

I think that's the general mood I'm sensing here.....

[Aquattro]

I'd go with a 250w MH fixture. I have the 150, I'm selling it to upgrade to 250. None of those silly T5 things.

[fkshiu]

I would get neither unit.

Go with 250W MHs or a better quality T5HO unit and you'll never have to upgrade down the road.

Whether you go MH or T5 is a matter of subjective aethetics and your priorities. Better yet, do what I did and do a combination of both.

[TJSlayer]

Well that would be OK but my budget is about $450 total....

So for $450 I'm looking for the best bankg for the buck, I know there are better alternatives, but I simply don't have the cash for those alternatives.....

So once again out of the two choices what is my best bet....
Especially if anyone has experience with either....

[digital-audiophile]

With $450 you could almost get into a Tek T5 unit with bulbs. Don't go with those silly MH thingies :p

For that price you could only get a single MH pendant and ballast.

[TJSlayer]

Almost but not quite and the Noca Pro unit is very close......

So that's what I originally planned on ordering but I see a few of the Coralife 150Watt MH with PC lights on sale used for the same price range (Which seems like a fair price since they were $800 ish new) But I'm not really sold on the PC bulbs.....

If they were MH with T5's for the same price I'd jump on those to get the best of all worlds but the only ones I'm seeing used are the PC ones.

That's where my hesitation is.

Wife wants one hood that looks nice....

I just figure the coralife had more wattage so it may be a better choice but from the reading I have done a 96 watt PC doesn't actually put out the equivalent to a 54 watt T5 so I may just stick with the T5's and add moons in a few months....

Thanks for the info....
If anyone else has anything further to add please do....

[kwirky]

PC bulbs are pricey compared to T5 bulbs, to replace. and that nova extreme's reflectors seem iffy on the website's pictures. what about lumen max 2 reflectors with DIY ballasts and aquaconnect bulbs?

i just finished upgrading from a 150W aqualight pro fixture to a single 250W lumen max 3 with galaxy ballast. i'm very happy with the decision. you would need 2 on ur tank though and that'll run like $800

any way you look at it, a half decent light on a 48" tank won't be cheap I think. what if you were to go with teklight retrofits? can't get any cheaper nor better than that? you'd have to slap together your own hood or pendant for them but you'd have good lighting at a very good price then.