Anyone use these lights? (6x48) For my 75gal FOWLR

You most likely will have to. Metal halides get very hot. You would also need to run fans to help keep down temp, but the chiller would be for the water.

 

Hmm, Oh well. I have heard of people using T5's but also modding a little bit with an LED strip in front and in back of the fixture. Have you heard of this? Buddy told me its a cheap way to increase output i guess, seems like a waste of $$ to me. Either way looks like its T5 for me, LED is a little too expensive for me.

 

Yes, I've heard of many people doing this. While it does increase total putput it's not by much. Those LED's they install on the sides would normally be for 'actinics' aka, moonlights. This is mainly personal preference & has no real effect on corals. Though it will allow you to see corals floresce in the blue light. Some moonlights are also white to resemble the moon.

 

Yeah i knew about the moonlights, i was just curious about wiring HO LED's to run with regular lighting. I was skeptical about it but thought id ask anyways lol. i will have to wire in some moonlight for my TEK lights though. hopefully if i sell my guitar ill be able to get some sexy lights and have it up in a few months. Thanks for the advise!

 

concerning AquaMedic T5 fixtures. On my search for the best T5 fixture I could get for my tank, I did look into AquaMedic. The thing that had me worried about them is how many bulbs they pack into their fixtures. A few things I have read was that the reflectors are very crammed in together and thus hurt performance. If I can't find a lot of user reviews on something, I generally am a bit more hesitant to buy it.

If you go T5, I would look into ATI, Aquactinics, TEK Elite, TEK Standard, Aquatic Life, all those brands are highly recommended by many owners.

I myself run an Aquactinics TX5 over my 55g reef and love it, they're just hard to find in good shape but I got lucky. As for moonlights, I actually use the Coralife 1w moonlights and the way their base is, I actually just secure them by pushing them down over my back-rim, it fits good and secure. It's not meant to be mounted this way but works great for me.

 

Yeah im thinking about going with a TEK standard T5 6x54, about the same price but I've heard good things about them and haven't heard much about the AquaMed's.