I have narrowed my selections...

I am looking at either the Aquatic Life 48" T5 or this 48" Nova fixture,

Current USA Nova Extreme T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 4X54 Watt, 48 inch

What do you think, good deal? This will be my first set of T5's.

 

I had one of the older versions, with a big old gull wing reflector. It worked pretty good over my 55. I have since upgraded since I have started to keep sps and clams. It worked really well for lps and soft corals though. It kept my purple monti digitata alive and growing, but the color really browned out.

 

The aquatic life is only a 4 bulb. And so is the nova extreme. But you can get the nova extreme pro with 6 bulbs

 

I just got the pro with 6 bulbs and I cannot be any happier. For the money it is great...I was contemplating the Tek fixture, but it came with no cooling fans which pushed me to the Pro. So far I have seen excellent growth on my digitata and tricolor birdsnest. Just waiting and watching for the rest to start to show some good growth.

 

SLS should be out with the Active cooled Teks soon, at least thats what I've been told numerous times now...

4 lamps would most likely cut in on a 55 for growing SPS and the like... Think of it this way, most companies use 2" reflectors in their fixtures, SO if you have 6 lamps that would cover the entire width of the 55, and the fixture would most likely hang off a little...

 

That's what I thought Dr. Frag. I am going with the four bulb Nova. Someday I will upgrade to a wider tank, I have a 75g in mind, so I will def. get a six or eight bulb then. I don't want a lot of coral, just some easy to keep sps. I am new to the game so I think the four bulb will do me well. Plus I think it is a good price, with free shipping!