608 watts

i wanted the MH for the glitter effect i think it looks really good

 

I would do the 2x150's. But everything is just a matter of opinion depending again on what you want to keep. Minimum I would do a 4 bulb t5 fixture and max out on the 2x150 mh fixture. But again it depends on what you want to keep.

 

i think you will have to raise the light higher than the clips that comes with it, the bulbs may not be a good quality bulb the t5 i know are not because i have a t5 system from that company and the bulbs were no good, i replaced them but, if you can get 6 months of service out of it and replace the bulbs you should be ok, i would get 20k for replacement, then you should be find without burning, mh produce heat you will most likely have to cool it with fans which will evaporate water quickly or a chiller will have to be empolyed, 150 mh would be no different in my opinion they would produce enough heat that you would be in the same situation.

 

Good point on the raising. When I ran that type of setup, I made a custom canopy. The MHs where about 10-12" above the surface, with two big fans, one on each side of the canopy. The room it was in would get into the 90s regularly, but the evaporation cooling always kept the tank below room temp, with just the fans, no chiller. I did evaporate a lot of water though.

 

i want the glitter effect.. will t5s do this?

 

no flou lights will not glimmer, i know its a change and higher cost but, i believe led lighting is the future of reef aquariums in the home, they produce wonderful powerful lighting with less heat then flou, and the color of the coral are great, not to mention the cost in power bills compared to mh, when my mh ballast go's , leds will be over my tanks, i know the initial cost is higher but the long run you will save major bucks and they glimmer

 

I wouldn't buy an Odyssea product if my life depended on it. In fact, many have caught fire and almost burned houses down, so techincally, lives have depended on them.

For $300 you can find a much better light fixture than that one. Heck, for a 55g tank, you could find a better fixture for $200. All you need for shimmer are lunar LEDs. You can get LEDs in T5 units, or buy them separate and just add them to the light yourself. You don't have to have MH's.

I would go with a 48" 6 bulb T5 fixture with built in LEDs for a 55g tank if it was me. Something like this:
Current USA Nova Extreme Pro T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 6X54 Watt, 48 inch

And to give you shimmer (and night viewing too), just get some LEDs like these:
Current Usa TrueLumen Led Lunar Light Module 3 Led 12,000K White
or
Hamilton 32" LED Strip with 24 LEDs

 

I wouldn't buy an Odyssea product if my life depended on it. In fact, many have caught fire and almost burned houses down, so techincally, lives have depended on them.

For $300 you can find a much better light fixture than that one. Heck, for a 55g tank, you could find a better fixture for $200. All you need for shimmer are lunar LEDs. You can get LEDs in T5 units, or buy them separate and just add them to the light yourself. You don't have to have MH's.


I'm sick of seeing people say this all the time. That problem was fixed along time ago and odyssea's quality is perfectly fine now. I run a 4 bulb t5 with zero issues and my girlfriend has ran one of their halides for 2 years and loves it for the price. This is just a completely false statement. A quick search will yield plenty of happy odyssea customers. Great entry level lighting. Also moonlights will add no shimmer what so ever to the daytime lighting.



I would go with a 48" 6 bulb T5 fixture with built in LEDs for a 55g tank if it was me.

A 6 bulb fixture on a 55 is a complete waste of money. You will burn everything in the tank and end up removing 2 bulbs. I've seen it time and time again.
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That's fine. Remove 2 bulbs if needed. A 6 bulb fixture allows future upgradability, say they go with a 75g or 90g tank next. And 6 allows more color combinations that 4 can't. And you can get 6 bulb fixtures often times for the same cost as a 4 bulb fixture, so I definitely don't think it's a waste of money. In fact, buying a 4 bulb fixture now, only to sell it and buy a 6 bulb fixture later, that's a waste of money IMO.

 

LEDs definitely add a shimmer to the tank.

Proof #1:
Shimmer with T5s and a CREE 3x1watt LED bulb - YouTube

Proof #2:
Shimmer from DIY LED Spotlights - YouTube

Proof #3:
Reef Brite supplementing T5s for Shimmer - YouTube

Etc Etc. Many folks have added LEDs to T5s for shimmer during daytime lighting. I added 6 blue LEDs to my 36" 6x39w T5 Current USA fixture, and guess what, I have shimmer during the daytime. Gasp.

And Odyssea is garbage. The only people who defend them, surprise, are those who own them. This is not a cheap hobby, and Odyssea owners are people trying to cut corners where they shouldn't. If they were so wonderful and great, just link me 1 tank, from any website, anywhere in the world, that won TOTM with Odyssea lighting. You won't find any. Why? Cause they're junk. Why can I only find 1 major retailer selling them? Why don't all of them sell them? Hmmm... Cause they're junk???