Lighting

[skabooya]

Sorry ahead of time for the newb question but i cant find my answer. I have a thread going about my 28gal but the costs have become extreme for me. Im trying to downgrade everything and simplify to cheapen things up.
So anyway one of my questions is which lighting would be advisable for lovely coral colours that would fit my tank that is reasonable in price (Under $300 after taxes)
Everything needs to be 36" long
2x96 Coralife PC
1x96 Coralife PC
Other

I only want softies and macro, Weeds essentially. xenia, cloves, shrooms, rics and macro

I originally wanted t5 but the price on the 4x39 went up about $100 and is now out of my price range.
HELP.

[mike31154]

You should be able to source T5 HO retrofit parts in the price range you're limited to. Only downside is you need to build the fixture yourself.

[lorenz0]

Trust me, switching from PC to T5's was the best thing i ever did. Save your money cause in the end you probably will want to upgrade down the road.

even going with a Nova extreme 2x39watt would have a better output than the PC's. Change the bulbs for some high end ones and you will be happy.

[marie]

Have you looked at these? They seem relatively inexpensive
http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=42

[whatcaneyedo]

Another idea if you're looking to save some money is to keep an eye on the 'used for sale' forum for some good deals.

[skabooya]

I do like t5's a lot more. They have a nicer spectrum and brightness and are more energy efficient than PC's but i also want the corals i chose to do well in my tank and show their true potential.

I found the nova extreme 2x39 t5 with a total output of 78watts. Is that enough over my 36" 28gal to grow what i want???

I was looking at the retros but they were strangly more expensive than buying the fixture in all cases. Im not sure why.

And The reason why i dont want to go over budget is because i cant justify spending so much on a hobby when there are so many other things around me that NEED to get done.

[lorenz0]

The best thing you will ever learn about lighting is take that whole watt per gal rule and throw it out the window. Its not that actual watts the lights put out but the par. a 2x39 t5 set-up with a decent reflector with put out way more par than the PC lighting with 96watts. I think your lighting will be a bit low but for what you want with mushrooms, you should be ok.

[sphelps]

You should be able to get a Nova Extreme 36" four bulb fixture shipped to your door for under $300.

I would definitely skip the PCs and go with a 4 bulb T5 fixture, even 2 bulbs would be enough for most stuff you want but 4 would be better.

[skabooya]

sphelps: During the initial planning of this tank the nova 4x39 T5 was what i was going to go with and shipped to my door would have been under $300 but now the prices have gone up and the cheapest i have found it is $315.61 not including taxes and shipping. So now because of this i am looking for new lighting options and other ways to reduce my costs for my salty tank. Its very difficult and because of such ive been entertaining the idea of going fw again which doesnt make me happy.

I found a thread on another forum that used 2x96 PC and they were able to keep softies and some lps. I remember when the options were PC's or MH and slowly t5's came into the picture and now LED's are making there way in. Its kinda funny.

I agree lorenzo that 2x39 T5 will be quite low and i probably wont be happy with it. I wish i found a thread where i could see examples of tanks with low lighting and see what they have in them... maybe i should just go fowlr?? I dunno anymore.

[banditpowdercoat]

I know it's out of your price range right now, but the Sunlight supply, TEK light fixture is awesome. I am extremely happy with mine. Looks great, works even better.

[sphelps]

Still cheap on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.ca/36-Nova-Extreme-4X39W-T5-HO-Aquarium-Light-Brand-New_W0QQitemZ110327084868QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Def aultDomain_0?hash=item110327084868&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 18)

[Trigger Man]

I would keep looking for used t5's if new is not possible. Yes before it was mh and PCs, but with the reflectors that allow for higher par ratings, as well as the money you'll save in electricity, the T5's have been the way to go when deciding between PC and T5s.

[lorenz0]

here is a picture of my first 20gal under 65watt Coralife PC. I used to run pc and it wasn't bad. The one thing i noticed with the lower PC is my soft corals were extremely happy but I am sure if I was running a 2 bulb T5 i would have gotten better results.

My one issue with reccomending a lower light fixture is there will always be some coral that you will want which will require more light. so it is best to start with that straight off the bat.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e69/lorenz000/IMG_0135.jpg

[StirCrazy]

take a look at the hagen power glo HO T5s, I did a PAR test on them compared to PC and the out put was 50% more for the same length. I have them on my freshwater tank and I am impressed.

Steve

[skabooya]

lorenzo: WOW. all that under only 65watts of PC??? I was told a few years ago that i would need a min of 130watts PC over my 20 to grow any softies. But with 65 yours look really good. Or is it 2x65??? ;)

Makes me consider the 2 t5 bulbs even more.

Honestly i dont really like many of the lps and esp sps. The only lps i would even consider getting would be maybe an acan, hammer, frogspawn, elegance, blasto... thats pretty much it. Ive never really liked them (lps, sps).
I much much much prefer pretty rics, zoas and shrooms and cloves as well as xenia. And i LOVE inverts. Tube worms, crabs, snails, shrimp sooo coool.

I do know that with 4x39 i could grow nearly everything including some sps but i dont want that at all. I just want a low matenance colourful tank with softies, probably some macroalgae and inverts... and a couple of fish.

So is 2x39T5 really bad (78watts) over my 36" tank (12"deep, 15"wide) to grow softies well with good colour or would i need more light. I think this might be the boundary lighting scheme. A fixture like this i could totally afford.

[lorenz0]

Thanks, that was actually just a single 50/50 65watt PC. The hammer in the corner didn't truely extend until i upgraded my lighting to another 130watt PC which was 2x65 50/50PC. When i was playing around with the lighting I did notice that depending on the type of mushroom/yuma depended on the lighting. Some of my yuma's hated the brighter lighting while others enjoyed it. Also the watermellon mushrooms HATE bright light. Same went for certain zoa's.

For 2x39watt T5HO its kind of pushing it for LPS unless you had them directly under the lighting. lol i used to be the same but now i am a die hard SPS fan, what you can't have only makes you want them more.

[skabooya]

Im sorry for being a pain but maybe its just my critical mind. Was that a yes i can do it with 2x39watt T5??? (softies only)

[lorenz0]

Oh for sure. LPS i would have a bit more lighting for

[skabooya]

BOOYA!! Thank you!!!