Good lighting?

I have the Nova extreme. It's a very nice fixture but you WILL be lacking if you ever decide to get into corals. IMO it's better to over kill and scale back rather than have to make up ground in the future, it's always been more expensive for me that way. I'm getting a Nova Extreme Pro 6x54. Each bulb has an individual reflector and it opens up to possability of keep a hell of a lot more than what the 4x54 is capable of. Also I can fill in a few gaps in my spectrum without sacraficing ANY of the output i'v got now. Someone said moon lights... the pro doesn't have the moonlight LED's but those are cheap to buy and cheap to install down the road... also the moonlights didn't do too much for me. 4 little blue LED's on a 75 isn't doing much for the tank either. Just a thought though... everyone has to take their own experiences and opinions into account here. But that's my 2 cents.

 

48w of T-5HO will not be enough for a 40 gallon tank if you are looking into corals.

 

I don't think he is, yet. But this hobby comes with a fierce appetite for evermore exotic and aesthetically pleasing critters. Go for more power, more light... you won't be sorry.

 

I have two novas the 2 bulb 54 watt and the 4 bulb with the moon lights. They are great, I grow SPS and clams with no problem and all my zoas grow like crazy on the bottom. But 48 would not be enough.

 

Thank you very much for the info! I do plan on growing hard and soft coral, so I can see I will need more powerful lights. I agree It would be better to overkill and scale back then to not have enough and have corals die, and have to upgrade. I will defiantly search the net, research and talk to my LFS. (its a small business, and the guy that owns it is very helpful. Gives me free plants and fish and once some equipment once in a while.) He has a few display coral/invert/fish tanks.

 

yea, that's great. Glad we could all help. Good luck!

 

Thanks