Another Lighting Question

[stpetehxc]

Im going to upgrade from the regular old flourescent bulbs and looking to get a t5 or power compact. I have a 55gal and looking to grow some corals but only what i can afford. Im prob going to go the retrofit route but i dont want to purchase something and it not be bright enough. Thanks!

[bigfoot]

well to be quite honest t5's are good but get expensive as if you went the retro you need to get individual reflectors for each bulb lets look at ebay for example: average 48'' setup is 290.00 replacement of 4-6 bulbs at around 25 dollars 100 dollars every 6-8 months for a four light fixture some are 5 bulb some are 6 compacts are cheaper but not very good look at this setup id buy it myself not a bad deal at all you need reflectors and bulbs thie higher the k the shorter the life you can usually get 10 months out of a bulb no problem i know many peple that get 12 out of the better brands so you could have a 3x175 watt halde set up and have 1 of them disconneted as u are not using it so its kinda like a back up :) lighting is the most valuable part of any coral tank itys best to go big on the first pop and it will save you quite alot of money in the long run from having to upgrade i am setting up a 110 tall thats 48x18-21 or pretty close to it and am going to put 2x 175 watt halides and 2x 06 watt pc actinics

http://cgi.ebay.com/ENERGY-SAVERS-175W-METAL-HALIDE-RETROFIT_W0QQitemZ7735314133QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1 QQcmdZViewItem

[stpetehxc]

very helpful, thank you. ill take a look at that! :) :)

[kory kirby]

does any one have any suggestions or comments on the ice cap 660 with 2 vho day light and 2 vho actinics on a 55 gal reef. total watts--480

[bigfoot]

vho is next best thing to MH should be able to keep all softies and lps some lowlight sps do your research though as i discovered that vho retro is about the same cost as mh retro on ebay do a search on metal halide on ebay and see what you come up with
and the same for vho

[stpetehxc]

yea i put a bid in, and if i cant get that then the t5 vho? is my next quest.

[bigfoot]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=235

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=48

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=72

these are florida reef clubs i have recieved much of what i have for free or very cheap and its nice to be able to get help with stuff too

[stpetehxc]

dude thanks alot, really :coolbeans: :coolbeans: