Fishneedit t5 VS. Odyssea

I have no issues with SPS with my fishneedit, but am using ATI bulbs. No idea how the stock bulbs perform. In all honesty, if you are concerned about heat at all, I would go LED. Plus the fishneedit is a weird silver color, it will make your bio cube look silly IMO.

Biocube 29 gallon dimmable retrofit kits from rapid are $245. The t5 fixture plus new bulbs will run you around $200-$215 range. For a little bit more, you still get to use your hood, will have less heat issues, and won't have to spend money on bulb replacement every year.

 

I believe I am the perfect person to answer this thread. I have both a 4 bulb odyssea t5 and a two bulb fishneedit T5 fixture on my 37g. The odyssea (with ati bulbs) was able to support SPS before I purchased the fishneedit. They both run equally as hot, but I don't have anything else to compare it to. I have no complaints about the odyssea, other than the the screws being stripped when I got it (new). These screws had to be taken off to get the legs off, but weren't needed for anything else. Although the fishneedit looks pretty cool, and works fairly well, I wouldn't buy it again. I don't like the fact that the ballast is external. The length of the cord from the fixture to the ballast is too short. The cord has partially ripped from the ballast. Additionally, they should have provided some way to mount the ballast to a wall, to prevent this from happening. It is also annoying that the I/O switch is also on the ballast, so you have to reach to turn it on and off. This hasn't been a problem since I bought my Apex, but was very inconvenient before.

 

MH puts out way more lumens than T5's - def go with the MH, you'll need a fan, but the added evap will be good. Mh all the way if the choice was mine

btw my 29g biocube is lit with leds, but honestly i still feel like one day adding the viper hqi 150 plus my three panorama pro's.. cant ever have enough light!!

 

+1 on the LED retrofit

 

Well here's why I can't get LEDs or anything more expensive...

This past spring break I went out of town for a week and came back to my tank being at 85 degrees. I lost a YWG and almost lost a mushroom. My hood runs WAY too hot. I need to figure out something fast before the Texas summer heat sets in. LEDs would be great except I won't have enough time to save for them before the summer gets here. Even panorama pros would cost me like 280$. Same with DIY LEDs. The two fixtures I posted are the perfect price. This summer when I come back from my 5 week vacation I like my reef to be in tact.

I COULD save for LEDs but there are a couple other things I need to get for my tank as well, like an ATO. So I'm kinda in a rush to fix this. Plus it's impossible to keep my pH up with this hood.

Thanks.

 

There are plenty more LEDs, many have hang on clips for the tank or hang over the tank.
If you can't go LED go with T5HO lights. My LFS green marine used halides. The owner(Shawn) said they used way to much electricity and his corals colored up only good. When the shop closed he went to Albany Aquarium and got to upgrade to a four bulb T5 and said his corals look nicer and they run on less electricity. IMO it also looks less bulky and nicer than the halides. He also said they don't heat the water as much. I'm speaking from others experiences and my knowledge, though.

 

Can you recommend a cheaper led?

 

Ecoxotic led lights are good, two boost led PAR bulbs with clamp lamps would be another somewhat good idea, what's your budget?

 

preferably around 150$. yeah i know...its tight. i need to save for a JBJ ATO.

 

I don't know, LED's or a nice 4 bulb T5 usually cost more:-/
Try CL, I see a good amount of 4 bulb 24" T5's for $50-$60