What is the Toyota of Reef Lights?

[UsRealm]

Hey Everyone:
I am a new member doing my first thread here. So I am going to be setting up a 46 gallon reef tank in the next couple months. I plan on having mostly soft corals. Right now I am gathering all the necessary supplies. My question is as follows:

Currently I have a 36" coralife compact florescent, and my new friend who showed me sdmas.com advised me that unfortunately it is the GMC of aqualights. It will do the job, but will waste a lot of electricity. What is the Toyota of aquarium lighting (efficient and powerful)?

Keep in mind that I am a poor grad student who would prefer to keep costs at a minimum for now. But I also may be able to find products used, so dont hesitate to throw it all out there.

Thanks, Cullen

[h20poloman2]

Welcome Cullen. PC (powercompacts) are definitely fine for just having soft corals. T5's are definitely a step up and depending on how many you go with, it could also save you some electricty usage. I don't currently run them so I'm not sure what the best brand is on the market. I do know that having individual reflectors for each T5 is supposed to give the best results. I'm sure you can get tons of info on the best T-5 systems through Reef Central as well.

[Jessy]

I'd say in the long run spending money on a nice set of t-5's will be your best bet. My reasoning is as follows:

T-5 bulbs are high output enough for you to grow sps, clams, softies anything you might want to put in your tank as you get more experience. PC's are not. No need to upgrade lights later if your taste in corals expand

T5's put off substantially less heat than PC's and Metal Halide (MH) bulbs. Meaning you most likely can get by without a chiller in the summer months.

T5's use less energy to get an equal amount of lumens. For example a 4' 54W T5 bulb could put out enough light to mimic close to 90W of light. Meaning you can really have great color and growth for 60% of the watts of PC or MH's with T5's.

T5's give you more of a color range mixture options than MH. You can have 2 blue bulbs and two white bulbs, or 2 blue, one purple and one white, etc.

T5 bulbs cost less to replace than PC's. And last longer. One T5 bulb could last you a year before you would need to replace them. Not so with PC's or MH bulbs.

Now for actual BRANDs of T5 lights. I'm not going to be the best resource. I know that TEK lights from sunlightsupply are nice because they have individual reflectors (which are good for concentrating the light rays). I have a TEK fixture and love it. I just wish there was an option with moon lights and a fan included in the fixture. I would suggest for a 46g tank a 4 bulb fixture. If you can find one (any brand) with individual reflectors, moonlights, and a fan in the fixture I'd buy it. I don't know if any brand actually makes a setup like that, but it would be a dream fixture for me anyways.

Hope that helps.

[UsRealm]

I looked around at the tek lights. It seems that they are only sold in the 48" model. Hmmm... Maybe another company manufactures the 36" model. Also, I noticed that most saltwater are open top, but most of the fish I want to buy are jumpers. Can I keep a t5 with a glass lid on the aquarium?

[h20poloman2]

Cullen, they definitely sell T5 retro kits which you would mount inside a canopy assuming you have one. Check out reefgeek.com as I believe they have a pretty good deal on some of their T5 packages. You may be able to get a glass cover and then get a T5 system with leg attachments. They should definitely have 36" length systems

[UsRealm]

So I checked further into T5 systems. They seem to have a strong following and I did check reefgeek.com, but this only produced more questions. I found a tek lighting system that is labeled 4x39W and another 6x39W. I assume that means 4 and 6 bulbs at 39 watts each. Also... what does it mean when it says retrofit? Is that a replacement part?
So, I already have a glass top for my tank, so if I bought a t5 and either suspended it or bought the plastic legs, would the glass reflect a substantial amount of the light? Should I just go without a top and hope my fishies dont jump out?

Exasperated (jk), Cullen

[h20poloman2]

you are correct about the 4x or 6x,etc. That just means the number of bulbs. Some "fixtures" do come with legs, you just have to read to see if has them or the picture may show. A "pendant" is a light you will need to hang and usually goes over a tank without a canopy or cover. Retro fit is only for mounting to a canopy. You can definitely have lights over a glass cover, you just don't want to typically rest the light fixture on top of it. You probably could get away with it on T5's as I don't believe they run very hot, it would probably just be a pain to always have to remove them when you want to feed your fish/move corals,etc. If you buy a retro kit or pendant you have to usually buy the bulbs separate and I'm not even sure they sell T-5 pendants...usually just metal halide. Can you post a picture of your current set up? That would help us get an idea of what would be some good options for you. The other thing you have to think about is color scheme. As I mentioned before powercompacts are fine for soft corals but you won't see as vibrant of color that T-5's or metal halides will give you, plus as Jessy said you most likely will find yourself wanting to upgrade lighting to support other corals as you get deeper into the hobby. A lot of people want anemone's and the majority of them need strong light. Also, do you want moonlights? Depending on your set up, picking one of those options may not give you room to have them. Having patience is one of the hardest things in this hobby so when you think you've done a lot of research, do some more. I've found that usually when I've tried to go a cheaper route, I've ended up upgrading down the line anyway so shelling out the money for good equipment will save you and your animals in the long run.

[spawn]

hi all,

i know this is an old thread, but if anyone is looking for a good set of t5's with lunar lights, timers, and fans, you can get em at drfosters. i jus found it and unfortunately today is the last day of the sale, but still great deal at regular price!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18486&cmpid=03csems&ref=4624&subref=AA&srccode=cii_9686437&cpncode=08-51581683-2

Brilliant T-5 fluorescent light fixture for aquariums
* High light output aquarium fixtures use energy efficient T-5 lamps
* Includes 460nm Actinic and 10,000°K T-5 fluorescent lamps

High light output fixture without the heat. Relying on brilliant, energy-efficient T-5 lamps, the Sundial satisfies high light requirements while eliminating unwanted heat transfer or energy consumption. Convenient size format allows versatile use as primary aquarium light source or as supplementary light for large aquarium systems with or without a canopy. Sundial T-5 Light Fixtures include: Two each of the Slimpaq 460nm Actinic and 10,000°K T-5 HO lamps, docking mounts, and two integrated timers. Measures 8-1/2" x 3-1/4" high.

jus sharing...

[SuperDragon]

hi all,

i know this is an old thread, but if anyone is looking for a good set of t5's with lunar lights, timers, and fans, you can get em at drfosters. i jus found it and unfortunately today is the last day of the sale, but still great deal at regular price!

jus sharing...

I have one, no complaints... excellent unit. Prefer 420nm than the 460nm.
Very quiet, reliable, single cord for everything.