Opinions please! :D

Howdy! I've an old Oceanic 110gal with a center brace. I've a CF Coral life fixture that keeps eating $30+bulbs so I'm thinking of getting a nex fixture. I've heard the Coralife (edited since this post, supposed to be Odyssea) fixtures have had fire issues, but that's another topic. (I don't know if that's bs or not). Anyhoo, I don't have anything in the tank that requires hardcore lighting ie. halide (fish; go-figure lol, various mushrooms, polyps, flippin' kenya tree [weed!] and inverts). I'm thinking one of the two following may serve well enough, but interested in more knowledged people's opinions. Thank you!


AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture

or

48 inch Current USA SunDial T5 HO 4x54W w/ Timers & LED

 

For a 110 I would be looking to at least a 6X, ideally an 8X personally.

 

I'm not super familiar with the dimensions of "standard" 110's, I believe there are a couple different varieties, what are your tanks dimensions?

With the coral that you have right now, and if you don't have any intention of keeping anything higher light than those then those are probably fine although you may want to go with more bulbs like Packleader suggested, depending on the width of the tank.

 

go metal halide. you can't go wrong with 2x250w with 4- 48" t5 vho . 20000k mh cast such a beautiful color and shimmer. just cant be beat. try finding them used save alot of $$$$$$$$$ good luck and happy reefing

 

That's a LOT of light for soft coral. ;D

 

yea i know but when i first started 5 yrs ago i bought some weak light for my tank and i paid allot for them like 500.00 thinking that i only wanted to keep some softies. then i saw some acro that i loved so much i had to have it. needless to say i had to go and buy new lights . i found someone selling some mh 2-175w for 200.00. i agree that it is overkill. just food for thought. i'd just look at all options you may find a great deal!! i do have a bad habit to go overboard . :]

 

Most soft coral can handle far more light and PAR than most SPS.... Sarcophytons and others have no know photoinhibition point and will not bleach like SPS will.... Just a thought!

 

very true ;D my friend put a current usa fixture on his 75gal it has 2-250 mh and t5 he didnt acclimate his tank to the light and almost killed all his sps!!!! do be careful

 

I would go for the sundial, the only thing you can't have with that lighting according to the manufacturer are tridacna and acroporas, both extremely beautyful but there's a lot you can still make thrive under those lights.

 

Honestly I would consider that your liking will most likely change.... I know WAY too many people that love softies and were never interested in SPS that were eventually bitten by the SPS bug and now are addicted. Also think of long term quality or resale value....

I would look into a Tek four lamp before either of those two fixtures. IF you want a Current USA fixture look into the Nova Extreme Pro before the sundial as well.

Its better to have too much and tone down then to not have enough and have to upgrade!