My Lights Went Out!!!!

So, i went to the LFS today, and bought a large plate coral (B-Day present ). As i began to add this beauty to my tank, boom.... my lights completely quit working. I believe it is a short of some sort. I have a friend who will look at it for me tomorrow. The lights are odyssea brand T5 HO. I thought they would be a good beginner system. I've had them for 4 weeks. Hopefully it is a short and i can get it fixed, if not, hopefully aquatraders.com will be reasonable and help me with my issue. if not, i will be looking to purchase a new system. i dont know if i should stick with t5's or upgrade to metal halide... i am still new but i do realize that i wont have as many limitations with metal halide lighting. does anyone out there have any good advice on lighting for me?? brands,models,ballasts, its all so new to me. please help me!! thank you!!!
PS- after my lights quit working, i call a guy that i've bought coral and rock from on 2 occassions (whom i hardly even know) and he loans me a set of 50-50 power compacts to hold me over until i get my situation resolved. what a lifesaver. i was very impressed.

 

sorry to hear about your lights. If you're new to the hobby, I would stick with a T5 fixture as if you go MH you may also need a chiller because of heat output.

Not sure on how large your tank is or how large your budget is, but the best T5 fixture brands IMO are ATI, TEK Elite, TEK Standard, Aquactinics, IceCap AquaticLife. A fixture is only as good as it's reflectors, you want to get one that has nice individual reflectors so each lamp is fully utilized. You also don't want to skimp on bulbs if you want good coral growth you will need good PAR lamps like ATI Blue +, ATI AquaBlue Special, Geissman, etc.

The best place to order online is www.reefgeek.com

Lastly the best advice I can give you on buying lighting for a reef tank is to buy quality first. If you don't have the $ then take some time to save. Lighting is one of the most important aspects of a reef tank. If you get a subpar light to "get you by" you will quickly regret it as you will want higher intensity light corals and you'll wish you had saved for a more expensive/better performing fixture.

best of luck

 

T5HO are excellent and more along the line of equivalent with MH. Go with about 1.5 to 2 watts per gallon for softies, 2.5 watts per gallon for a mixed reef and 3 watts per gallon for SPS and clams on the sand. MoJoe's post is spot on.

 

Number of possibilities:
1. Bad bulb - depending on how it's wired if 1 bulb goes bad the rest won't fire.
2. Bad ballast
3. Loose wire
4. Bad switch

It used to be about watts/gallon with old PC lights. It's now about PAR value.

 

thank you for the info. i appreciate all of your help. i will look at reefgeek.com as well.
thanks guys
JP

 

i just got the maristar 2x 250watt with 2x 54watt t5s and i love the fixture.