help by recomending a light?

hi i have a 40 breeder and i was hoping on starting a reef tank. i am planning on keeping soft, mostly lps, and some sps. what light would you recomend i use on a setup like this? these are the requirements...

-must be t-5
-under $300
-can safely keep sps happy

thanks for your time,
jake

 

Check out reefgeek.com and Sunlight Supply Tek5s. I'm not sure how much one for a 40 gallon would cost, but they are good lights and not super expensive.

 

You could get a coralife brand also it would be plenty sufficient for your needs. Also check with Aquarium Lights Hellolights.com they have some awesome prices on retro kits.

 

those hello lights are $100 for a 2 bulb retro! i could get 2 or 3!
but are the ballast's and reflector any good?
should i replace the reflectors with icecap ones later?
also would i be able to keep sps corals with a 4 bulb hello lights retro?
what bulbs would you recomend?
and finally theres a 4 bulb retro with a 15% overdrive, is that safe for the bulbs and bulb life?
sorry for all the questions!

 

so you're looking for a retrofit

 

The reflectors are fine, I have them on my lights and they are cooking just fine. I don't know about their ballasts on the OD set, but they use Phillips ballasts otherwise.

4 bulbs will be fine for SPS on a breeder.

Over drive won't hurt the bulbs especially if you cool them with a fan just aim it beneath the silk screened ends.

Bulbs I would suggest getting from geeks http aff it services at reefgeeks.com. Get 2 ATI Blue plus and place them at each end, 1 ATI Aquablue Special and 1 UVL Actinic White. The blue plus are the strongest bulbs out there and have actinic spectra along with blue spectra. The Aquablue Special is a 50/50 bulb as is the UVL. The Aquablue Special is white and the UVL is pink which will make your reds, pinks and purples pop.

 

awosome thanks a bunch!

 

Aquatic life T5 fixture. Awesome lights!