Aquarium Light question!

[SleepyPirate]

Iv been doing some heavy looking around for a very well priced 48" light for my salt water tank as I dont have 1000$ to spend and I seen a few fair priced ones has anyone have a good place to find a cheap light thats of high quality.


I looked on ebay and found this
http://cgi.ebay.ca/48-INCH-T5-HO-QUAD-AQUARIUM-REEF-LIGHTS-FIXTURE-216W-/270760721484?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3f0a98bc4c

it seems like its the same bulbs as a coralife light but for a fraction of the price
2 x 54W T5 HO 12000K bulb.
2 x 54W T5 HO Actinic bulb.


If someone could take a look and let me know that would be fantastic looking to get one this weekend

[ScubaSteve]

From what I can see, it doesn't have individual reflectors which tends to give you the best bang for your buck with T5 lighting. It'll do the job but it's no screaming genius. And the bulb quality may be questionable. Sorry to be Debby Downer. I'm usually all for the eBay fixtures but this one isn't jumping out at me as a deal.

You might not have $1K to drop on lighting but do you have $200? If so I'd consider a Sunlight supply T5 fixture. Waaaaay better fixture for a small sum of $$$. You'll probably find you have to replace the bulbs that comes with it for a cost of $100 just to make it decent performing.

You could also consider a fishneedit fixture

[phi delt reefer]

+1 for fishneedit

or wait for a used fixture to come up for sale (check the classifieds here or kijiji locally)

your local lfs may have some trade ins especially with LEDs taking off.

[naesco]

I would recommend you only consider LED. More expensive but you do not have to replace the lights for 5 years instead of the 9 to 12 months with other lighting.

Look at www.fish-street.com

[Magma]

If hes looking on Ebay I dont think he will find to many LED setups worth his time, I took a quick look and most of the LED fixtures on there are MarineLand Double Bright fixtures which seem more for FW than reef setups...

[ScubaSteve]

Look at www.fish-street.com

I lost my afternoon because of that link. Damn it...

[naesco]

I lost my afternoon because of that link. Damn it...

Ha ha! I came across that link with my spider search when someone mispelt tank and spelt tang.

Ended up spending a few hours there and bought two Key LED lighting systems. I am really happy with them.

[Canadian Man]

Seems like everything on their site that uses electricity is set to use 220 v power. Is your light?

[syncro]

Would two 24" fixture work? You could try these Odyssea 24" 96w fixtures (http://www.aquatraders.com/24-inch-4x24W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-p/52303.htm) from AquaTraders at about $65 each.

Here is a canreef thread talking about the Odyssea lighting: Cheap lighting HQI... to good to be true? (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=70764)

[syncro]

There is a 48" T5 fixture for sale in the buy/sell area:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=75991

[globaldesigns]

What are you trying to achieve? Just light for fish only, or are you wanting to try your hand at corals? If so, what type of corals, as LPS require different to SPS.

Personally I woldn't cheap out on any light, as this is one of the most important things on the whole system. As others suggest, try finding a better quality unit that is used on canreef. Usually you can save 50% by getting a used fixture.

But decide what you are wanting to keep in your tank before deciding on a type of fixture.

[naesco]

Seems like everything on their site that uses electricity is set to use 220 v power. Is your light?

Lighting is available is US model and Europe model 220. Mine is 120volt

[RuGlu6]

http://www.aquatraders.com/48-716W-Metal-Halide-T5-LED-Combo-p/54267.htm
here is a good light if you want to grow SPS corals

[SleepyPirate]

Yea im defidently looking to grow corals and such i only want mabey 6 fish

2 clowns
1 blue tang
1 lawnmore

and mabey a few others i run into, but mainly corals if I can, my currentl flouresent light seems to be keeping what corals I have alive but there is absolutly no growth. Im thinking a metal halide light but it confuses the hell outta me sometimes I see some for $1200 then others like that link above for $300 and i really have a hard time seeing the diffrences.

[lorenz0]

There is more to corals than lighting. a stable tank is more important than blasting the most amount of light that you can possibly muster.

What types of coral are you planning on keeping?

[SleepyPirate]

I really want more LPS then SPS but id like to have a few SPS in my tank, so far my tank levels have been spot on with only the problem of Salinity which was due to water evaporation which I stoped by buying an RO unit now i do frequent changes and top ups which stopped that. I do however have small temperature varients mostly as its just to hot, my heater is pretty much on the LOWEST setting at all times and its a tiny heater mabey 30w (buying a good one as soon as I get a new light) I think im ok for another month or so. So far the temps stayed in the "green" zone so I dont think a chiller is required... yet.