Choosing a light

Haha, I had the same questions after I got mine. The general consensus was- softies mushrooms and zoas, frogspawn and lowlight chalices and lps would all be fine. And, if later you wanted to add more light, you could grab a 75$ two bulb NOVA unit, which includes actinics I think.

 

Thanks for the help 2in10. So if a regular double T5 HO light would be ok than there really is no difference between a Zoomed, Hagen Glo, Deep blue, or other fixture out there just make sure you get good ATI bulbs?? I plan on resting the light on top of a glass canopy, it is cold up where I live so heat is not an issue for me and I will have suffient space in the back of the tank to allow air circulation. Does this change the streagth light I need?

 

I would go with a fixture that has individual reflectors first, formed to look like individual reflectors second and flat last. Actually I would avoid the last one. ATI or Giesemann bulbs will do you no wrong.

 

so any dual bulb fixture will suffice? I have experience with the zoomed for a freshwater planted setup and love it everything grows great! wasnt sure if it would be good for saltwater as well

 

any suggestions for a fixture? keep in mind i am open to LED lighting as well but do not know what makes a good fixture vs a bad one with LED

 

Zoomed is not th best, but it will get the job done. I had ATI bulbs in mine and my softies and LPS did fine, even on the sandbed.

For LEDs, check out boost LED. They have these par 30 lamps that come with a clamp for about $100. 3 or 4 would probably be enough for your tank and you won't have to worry about bulb replacement.

 

how are the nvoa extreme T5 HO lights?

 

From what I heard they are fine, and will definitely be enough if you pair it with the the ones I'm selling. Also, just to clear it up, I'm selling a Hagen glo fixture, not zoo med.

 

Nova Extreme is good. Aquaticlife is another good one. If you don't mind making a canopy a Hellolights.com retrofit kit is a fantastic choice. You will need to purchase bulbs though.

 

I am not a f an of the Hagen Glo systems, ncie lights but expensive for what they are and they dont even have a switch to turn them on and off with if I remember correctly