AquaticLife 36" 6x39 watt light

Hey guys,
Mike again in Orlando. I've been posting all over the forum trying to get the 411 on stuff so that I've got everything locked in place for my first tank an upcoming 65 gallon reef and fish aquarium build. So I'm looking at lights and I want one that is able to mount on the aquarium. I'm really diggin' the Aquaticlife 36" 6x39 light. Will this work for my fish and coral that I wanna do in this aquarium? Is it bright enough? Also it comes with bulbs should I leave the 6 that are in there or should I swap the bulbs for a different setup or type of bulb that you guys might recommend? Here's the link to the fixture:
AquaticLife T5 HO 6-Lamp Light Fixture w/ Lunar LEDs

Let me know guys. Thanks.

Mike

 

This is a great ficture. timer is awesome, moonlights are awesome bukbs ar good but there is better bulbs. ATI. indivdual reflectors, active cooling. The only thing I dont like on the 6 bulb fixture is that the timer is on top vrs on the side like the 4 bulb fixture but thats forsure not a deal breaker.

BTW I posted a thread pertaining to the top used fictures.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/best-t5-fixture-brand-90473.html

 

How deep is your tank? If it's under 24" that fixture will be quite enough to keep almost anything you want to keep. I'd suggest ordering bulbs other than the stock. ATI is the absolute best imo. Thier BluePlus emits more par than any other T5 bulb on the market. Geismmann and UVL are next in line. Color combos will drive you insane though because there are so many options. I don't like alot of blue all of the time so my 6 bulb combo is set up front to back:
ATI blue+
ATI blue+
ATI Bluespecial
UVL 75/25 white actinic
GE 6500k Daylight
ATI blue+
My tank is only 17" from surface to substrate.

 

i just bought the 72" version so it is too early for me to really say but so far i like it. My opinion is that it will handle any coral. there will probably be mixed opinions on clams. however, i hope is that it will be fine as long as the clam is moved up high in the tank. the comment about the timer being on top is funny because i do have to stand on my toes to get a good look at it. i am 6' 1" so i can see where this would be annoying for anyone much shorter than that.

 

I have the 72" version on my 155. You can't keep hard corals, but my softies grow like mad and my tank is 24" deep. I love the timer. I had an issue with the led's flickering, but I shot an e-mail to the company and they were extremely helpful and rectified it within 2 days for me. I had a Desera clam and it was doing just fine too. My leathers have been fragged 3x this past year, Zoo's grow at a medium rate. My GSP grow like mad. I hope this helps!

 

i hate to hear that about the hard corals. is it your opinion that they can only be kept under halides? i was thinking about adding some and don't want to kill them.

 

That statment is totally false. I have no idea why he would say that unless there is certain circumstances with his tank. In all honestly my green Acro is the best loking coral in my tank as far as polyp extension and color. My birdnest had to be moved down because it was bleaching within 10" from the bottom of the fixture. you can keep hard corals and aboslutly LPS anywhere in the tank. Everything in my tank is doing fine under these lamps and I have a mixed reef. If I where to upgrade the bulbs I could probably keep SPS mid tank level where my birdnest is now. Im actually willing to bet a clam will be fine too.

 

I use the 30" version on my 29 gall reef. It is an awesome light. The only problem I had was that my leds burnt out within three weeks. I called the company and told them about it and I had new led units within a week, awesome customer service. The new leds have been working perfectly since then. All corals are doing great. Been running for 7 months.

 

I just pulled the trigger on the 48" 4 bulb version for my 55gl. From all the research I did and from talking to some folks locally, I think I made the right decision.

The fixture should allow me to keep pretty much anything I want, though I question its ability with certain clams.

I dont have "near term" plans to change the bulbs out since I am only now starting to set up my tank. I figure by the time I am really ready to get into the more light intense corals the bulbs will be getting nearer to replacement.

 

Saying you cant keep hard corals under t5's is outdated and false info. Sps will do quite well under t5's. You might have to keep them higher up than you would with MH, but it can be done.