Good light

Looking for some fairly inexpensive lights for my 30g.
Would this be decent?

36" 3ft T5 HO Aquarium Reef Light 78W Odyssea 2 lamps - eBay (item 290351861066 end time Sep-30-09 11:13:49 PDT)

 

If you are looking for 'decent' lights, these will fit the bill. You will not be able to keep corals with high light requirements, or most anemones either. These lights will however support most soft corals.

 

wht kind of tank?????? mini reef, fowler ,fish only ??????

 

Right now its a fowlr but I would like to convert it to a reef

 

How many watts should I be aiming for with a 30g and would I be able to swap out the bulbs on that light with stronger ones?

 

I would do some searches here on 3reef for Odyssea and see some other people's experiences with these fixtures. I've heard a good number of negative reviews.

Even if it's only $40 or $50 if you end up having to replace it in a few months because the ballast blew or something shorted out then you're not really saving any money.

 

What would you recomend for a 36" light for a 30g for full reef set up?

 

It depends what you want to keep, if you don't want a lot of SPS you can probably get by with 2 T5's, you just want to keep them up high and under the bulbs for best growth. If you want lots of SPS I would go with 4 T5's.
If you have a canopy I would retrofit it with this (there is a 2 bulb version as well).
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...put_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_AquaIllumination

If you need a fixture this is the cheapest I would go personally.
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...t_Fixture_w!_Bulbs_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply

If you need to go cheaper, or only want to go with only 2 bulbs the Current Nova Extreme Pro are not too bad from what I've heard. Only problem is they come with poor bulbs so if you want to keep higher light corals you will need to replace them with good quality bulbs.

My 2c anyway!

 

I personally like odyssea fixtures.. and try to dispell their issues with their old ballasts. I do admit the old odyssea were really dangerous. They have since fixed their ballast issues, but keep the bad name. You cant beat the price. Yeah they are a cheaper fixture and arent as good as the name brand fixtures, but they are also 1/4 of the price. I will only buy odyssea from here on out.

 

Amazon.com: Aquarium Light 36" Jebo Power Compact Lighting W/stand: Home & Garden

What do you guys think about this?