Need help on these lights

ok i am looking for a T5 light with lunar lights. and i am looking at 3 different kinds from dr smith and foster.

this one doesnt come in a 30inch
T-5 Aquarium Lighting: Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures w/Lunar Lights

these both are 30inch, but i am confused bc it doesn't say its T5???
Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Lunar Aqualights Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Dual Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixtures

please help me out with these lights. i am new at this stuff. any suggestions would be helpful. thanks

 

compact flourest and t5s are different. t5s are better but cost more usually

 

oooo. ok well where can i find a 30in T5 for a good price?

 

i would try ebay

 

Lights are going to be one of the most expensive investment portions of the hobby, and they are also one of the most important in terms of growth and coral health.

The best place to start, IMO, is decide what kinds of corals you want to keep and plan your lighting accordingly. If you do not plan on keeping any corals, get PC (power compacts). If you plan on keeping SPS corals a lot of people advise going right to MH (metal halide) lighting with vho/pc/t5 actinics.

High light corals can be kept under both MH and T5 lighting. It just depends on how you want the tank to look since you have several different color combos with the T5, many fewer heat issues, and less power usage. With MH's, however, you will have a more intense light and the "shimmer" of a single point light source, which you will not get with the T5s.

My personal vote would be for 10k (more white) MH with VHO actinics for 250w and under. If you are going with 400w or higher MH's you can use 20k (more blue) and still get the par values (par rating is directly related to coral growth, provided the other params are there), but you are going to have a lot more heat to contend with, with 400s.

It is a confusing subject at first though, because everyone has different opinions and there are so many options out there.

Good luck

 

Maybe check out reefgeek. Thats where i bought mine and they had excellent customer service.

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