help with lighting

If you dont want mh go for t-5ho. I just upgraded from my pc and they are amazing! I got them from www.reefgeek.com

 

From what I hear t5's are nice, however, I am having a very hard time thinking they are better than metal halides. All of the lighting arrangements need a special ballast etc. as the bulbs are different sizes and different wattages. For instance you can't buy a ballast and 250 watt metal halide pendant and upgrade to a 400 watt bulb w/o upgrading the ballast as well. Or go from refular fluorescent bulb to t5's because the bulbs are alot smaller and don't fit into a standard or say a power compact fixture.
Feather duster's can adapt to most lighting arrangements, again it is just that you need to have "full-spectrum" lights!
Let us know what you decide to go with!

 

Coral reefer, you are correct in saying no lights are as strong as metal halide. I think that t-5 is getting close....but its still a long long way till the same

 

For Now I Will Upgrade The Bulbs To 50/50 And Then Around Xmas Time I Will Ask For Maybe One Of Those Retro Fit. Hee Hee, Thats A Great Xmas Gift. If Ever U Guys Are Selling Anything Please Don't Hesitate To Offer. I Will Hold Off On Any Corals But I Want Enough Light To Help Induce Growth On My Lr. Thanks Again.

 

Sites like Foster etc. won't work for her because she is in Canada and importing costs an arm and a leg plus exchange.
My 55g tank has four 40w NO fluorescents on it powered by recycled ballasts at $5 to $7 each. The lamps are 2 GE Daylight 40's from Canadian Tire (6500K and initial lumen output of 3050) and two Philips actinic 03's. I have room for two more 40w lamps as well but haven't got around to adding them and the four I have are sufficient for what is in there now.
Leathers, green star polyps, zoo's, brain corals, bubble corals, candy cane corals and of course, way too many mushrooms. Had a hammer but it got bigger so I moved it to a larger tank.
Total cost uncluding wood for the hood and used ballasts and 4 lamps was under $100.

 

Nemo I am in the same problem you have, not alot of money for the good lights. But what I am doing is building my metal halides (175w), went to local Lighting place and got a 175w ballast and waiting for the mogul socket and 13000k 175w bulb to come in. Plan on doing the same for the T5's also, when I get the money I will get the parts. I know you are asking why not just save up and then buy, well I like being able to do the projects myself; like the hands on part of it.

 

Actually I Think I'm Gonna Replace My Hood With The All Glass Hood And Then Get A 48" Pc Fixture With 2 Bulbs. This Supposedly Will Work. I'll Lay The Pc Lights On The Glass.

 

You can grow many corals with normal output 40 watt flourescent bulbs. You can keep many LPS corals and all the soft corals with these. you get a fixture that has 2 40 watt 48 inch bulbs then get 1 50/50 and 1 blue actinic bulb. Lots of people have beautiful reef tanks with this lighting. Again...I recomend the higher lighting for the health of corals and the ability to keep more species but if you see yourself never wanting to spend 200 bucks on this then buy the lesser lighting and choose your corals carefully. I have a feeling though that you will get addicted just like the rest of us and NEED the lighting to get your coral fix...hehehe.

Good luck Nemo.

Jay

 

Oh yea. My first light was a jebo 220 watt fixture with 4 power compacts. Bought this from ebay for 69 bucks with bulbs. Shipped it was 115 bucks.

Jay

 

I Think I'm Gonna Take The Canopy Down, Replace It With Egg Crate And Get 1 48" Pc Which Will Be 130watts. It Will Cost The Same As Getting 1 Of Those No Woth Higher Wattage. Thanks For The Help.