Going to buy new lighting.....need advise.

depends on the depth of the tank, individual reflectors make a huge difference in water penetration with t5's

 

for reef if you have sps,lps coral you need strong light HO florecent each 1 liter/1w for fish tank only with soft coral you need florecent light with good britness but in you mine the lighting increase the tank temp consider this thing.

 

Hey pharmrjohn, i gotta chime in on this one. I HAD the tek 8 bulb t5 lighting system on a 90 gallon tank. I tried selling the tek on here. Anyway, the only thing i didnt like was that if there are splashes on the reflectors they are stained for good. I also think people say they are super bright and while they are i just thought it was a bit exaggerated. it doesnt compare to mh and t5 combo, i honesty believe i would have been limited with the t5's. Maybe if i placed all the more light demanding corals at the top i would have been ok but would have really sucked to have my lites determine where the majority of my corals would be placed cause lets face it, dont always want a coral up high cause of water flow or just pictured it somewhere else when u bought it. IF u are to spend on lites, and u get what u pay for i would recommend a maristar 2x250watt fixture with 2 54watt t5's and a dual galaxy electronic ballast. That is what i have and bought it from here:

Maristar Metal Halide and T5 fixtures by Sunlight Supply - Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists

Before u buy anything let me know what u are thinking, perhaps i could help u out somehow, just lmk.

 

maristar is nice but even with bulbs that's 2 8x54 tek's

oh yeah, and on the reflector burnage issue, there is a $29 acrylic shield you can get that covers the water facing side of the fixture to prevent that issue. i have it on my 6x39 and ordered it for my 8x54 also

 

Thats why I suggest the acrylic protective splash lens . Thats the difference when you but from some one just selling and some one who knows what they are selling and what bulbs did you use ? We just ordered That Guy a set a few months ago and he loves it. And I'm sure he will post some photos . For a 48" tank its the best way to go with proper bulbs .. Like we used to say in the 60's if you do not know your drugs know your dealer

 

John get a set of the Teks with the proper UVL lamps This will do you just fine
Tek-Light™ T5-48 4Ft - 8Lamp 40,000 Lumens 906110 48in L x 20in W x 2.5in
H I'll guarantee you it will As for a Luna light totally worthless other then looking in the tank at night but if you want one I'll build you one like several guys here run last about 10 yrs and totally water proof.. E/M me if you have questions.

 

I didnt like the heat it trapped in the fixture, plus there are no fans with the tek and gets pretty hot. If i went the t5 route id go this one:

Aquactinics Solar Flare T5 High Output Fixtures - Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists


he gets moon lites (which he wants) fans and overdriven t5's cause of the icecap ballasts and included splash guard. 405 watts (aquatinics) vs 432 (tek) will save money in electricity costs running 2 less bulbs in the long run AND fixture is only 15" wide.

 

I have a 90g with 2 x 175w 14k MH for about 4 month and they are greate. (PFO balast and SPS bulb).

 

You don't need that much light. The reef store I go to www.reefplus.net uses 2 48" 8 bulb tek lights on a 370gal. He only runs 6 bulbs on each. He was bleaching hes sps. The lights are 4 feet above the sand now, and he moved back to the 8 bulbs on each. He has clams on the sand, lps on the sand and they are doing GOOD. I just got a lobo from there and it was on the sand and the colors are great. Individual reflectors are good. The tek 6 is better then the nova 8 bulb hands down. BUT, are you going to be putting sps on the sand? You gonna have clams? I would judt get the 6 bulb tek. You will be happy, if you have the money buy the 8 bulb But it will be bright. And you will not be limited to anything.

DONT BUY MH. HEAT, BLEACHING, MONEY. Power bill will be high, new bulbs every 6 months, and the colors suck. And you will still have to combo it with t5, I would NEVER buy mh. JMO.

 

Wow, I get the funny feeling that he doesnt like MH.
Im really sorry that you had a bad exp. with MH's, but I would have to disagree with you. I love them and you dont have to change out the bulbs every 6 months. The MH's only add $15.00 more a month( in my case), No heat issues here, nor do I have fans to cool the water. I havent seen not one coral bleach out due to the MH's. However, they are more expensive, but your getting the latest lighting and no other light can give you that shimmering effect that MH do. Luna