Lighting for a 55g reef

That's pretty much what I want.

 

Compacts are not bad their just not practicle in the long run. T5's last a long time. I have mine for 17 months and they are still fine as ever. I did buy the upgraded bulbs at an average of $20 each but they last.

I pondered this very same dilemma almost 2 years ago and decided that I wanted to give my fish the total experience of light that I could afford. I wanted dawn/daylight/dusk/moonlight. After all, that's what they are accustomed to. I also found in the early goings that when there was a power outage and the tank went black the fish freaked out and certain predators would take advantage of the moment as I found out I had a stone crab that ate my baby hippo tang.

I would get that experience because I do so enjoy my tank 24/7. I have a brain coral that has polups that come out with the moonlights. I saw a fixture on the fosters website that you may want to investigate.
Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO and Lunar Light Fixtures
It has that ability I mentioned and covers all the bases. When you get an extra $80 or so, go to www.reefgeek.com for the better bulbs. I recommend the ATI blue plus for your actinics and UVL 75/25 (14K) and UVL Aquasun (10K pink). There are other bulbs but most any you see at this site is the good long lasting bulbs.

 

Yeah When I first posted this thread, I was under the conception that the reg. Compact Flourecent lamp I wanted was a High Output lamp. I was mistaken. I'm glad someone noticed that before I ordered it. I'm going with the Nova extreme T5HO.

 

Sorry to hear about your Hippo Tang. I also will get the replacement bulbs when I have the money. I don't have a job yet so Dad's been paying to my for aquarium stuff for now lol. But since I am taking on a bigger tank, meaning more equipment, bigger equipment, in turn means more money which means I need to pay for what I can.

 

You may also want to check out Catalina Aquarium for fixtures. You can get a 4*54watt single reflector fixture form them for $180, just get them to thrown in some actinics instead of the plant bulbs.
Catalina Aquarium - 48" Silver Solar T5 HO Aquarium Light Fixture - 4 x 54 watt with Splashguard

 

What about moon lights? Is there any type of moonlight (maybe LEDS?) I can install as a small DIY project to my canopy? Even something bought ready-to-use would work too.

 

From what I can tell this appears to be a pretty good product? Do you or someone you know have one? It's not a cheap product is it? I'm not looking for the least expensive, just the best product within my budget (maximum: $280.00). I also wish it had one more outlet.

 

I would get the slr nova for $30 bucks more.. atleast current sunpaq bulbs are halfway decent, catalina bulbs I dont know about. as for leds lunars, you can just get some from ebay and mount inside canopy or velcro them behind light fixture if not using a canopy.

 

Thought so. Thanks for your input.

 

Actually the Catalina fixtures I use I feel are very high quality. Use one on my own softie reef, another on my 150G planted and another on my 100G planted. The bulbs are decent, they are giving me good results on the tanks I have them on. I am sure that UV and etc makes a higher quality bulb...but for softie corals and low-moderate light plants I cant really validate 2-3X the cost in bulbs