Best place to buy ATI lighting?

I'm now leaning towards buying an ATI 8 or 10 bulb T5 fixture, but I'm having difficulty finding anyplace that sells them. I know they're not cheap, but was hoping to find something a little more competitive. I've really only seen them on the PA site, anyone have any other suggestions? Google doesn't seem to help.

Scash

 

Reefgeek has great deals on the tek. Not sure if you are interested but I love mine.

 

I looked at the tek stuff, but I think I am going to need a bit larger of a fixture as it looks liek they only do 48". The tank I am going with is 72". Reefgeek has the ATI fixture I'm looking for, but was hoping to find a little better of a deal on it than $1300.

Scash

 

Or could I get away with using the 48" on a 72" tank?

Scash

 

I wouldn't do the 48 on a 72. Does your tank have a canopy?

 

Well I haven't purchased anything yet, but the tank I'm looking at does not have a canopy. I was thinking I'll hang the fixture. and leave an open top.

Scash

 

Well what I was going to suggest is not a option then. The open top is better. Are you against halides.

 

I'm leaning towards T5 mostly based on a few reasons. The first is the heat and electric expense. I've talked to bunch of folks who talk about how hot the halides run, and how in the winter they saw $100 difference a month in electricity with the big 60" bulbs. The other thing is that I've seen a few peoples tanks recently that are running the ATI T5 and they have a very flourishing coral tank (not that they wouldn't with halides). I've also heard that you have to replace the halide bulbs about 6-8 months sooner than the T5's. So there is a cost savings there as well. All in all, I think halides are probably superior in performance, but have some drawbacks that in my opinion outweigh the positives. Wouldn't mind anyone telling me I'm crazy though. That's why I'm here, to get as much info as I can before I pull the trigger. I'm starting from scratch, and going big so it's looking like $6500 before I even put a fish or coral in the tank. That number is probably higher than it needs to be, but I've always been a buy it new kind of person.

Scash

 

I am one of those that will tell you t5's are better then halides depending on the t5's that you get because of a lot of the reasons you mentioned. I am glad I have my t5's and so is my corals. I have mine in a canopy so there is still a little heat issue but I fixed that with a few fans.

 

I haven't found any stores that sell them, but they are also available at aquariumspeciality.com. However, every place I have looked has had them at the same price.