Opinions on various lighting

Looking to upgrade lighting on my FOWLR (55 gal, 48x13x20) to a reef friendly setup and considering several lighting setups. I was hoping maybe some people have some experience with the brands in question, and can provide some feedback!



A word about prices: I haven't bothered looking on e-bay yet, I want to have a better idea of what I'm actually looking for first.

First option -- Coralife Aqualight 4x65W w/ 4 Moon LED's. I actually have several Coralife products, and like them (My RO/DI has been great). Total wattage from this light would be 260, which would be 4.72 WPG. This setup is also the cheapest.

Second -- Current USA Orbit 4x65 w/ 4 Moon LEDs. Never heard of Current USA, but I did some digging and didn't find anything bad about them. Same WPG as above.

Third -- Current USA Orbit 4x96 w/ 4 Moon LEDs. A little bit more expensive, but ups the watts/gallon to 6.98

Fourth -- Coralife Aqualight PLUS 4x96 w/ 4 Moon LEDs. Most expensive...maybe not worth the price over the other current USA?


Thanks everyone!

 

Have you looked at metal halide. Cause depending on what you want to keep you might be better off dishing out more bucks but the lights will do the job in the long run. I run a 2 x 65W coralife PC retrofit kit on a 20 high. Does a great job, no complaints for coralife from me. But i dont know anything about Current USA.

Marc.

 

It's all pc lighting, so what do you mean by reef friendly?
If all you want to keep is low light lps and softies any of the above lighting systems will work just fine.

Jim

 

Dont count out T-5HO.

I had PC lighting for almost 3 years and it was great. But now with my T-5s...its amazing! My acropora is turning neon green again, my zoos look fantastic...everything is better. So if you want somthing "closer" to metal halide but dont want to deal with it...look into T-5HO.

I got mine from www.reekgeek.com
Friendly Small Business.

 

Reef-friendly was not the right term . Perhaps more reef-adequate would have been better?


As-is, thank you all for the feedback. I still have alot of planning to do, and figure out just how much I want to spend

 

most of those 4x65w fixtures have 2 10k and 2 actinic blulbs. imo u will need to have more light. i dont think it will be enough to make your tank as reef friendly as you want. you could add a t-5 vho to it or maybe change the acting pc bulbs for 50-50's. i know a guy who has the sametank with the same pc fixture and a t-5 it does well but it will not keep anything that needs a lot of light. just like diver said.

 

I would go with the VHO. On hellolights.com I got 2 36'' coralife bulbs(one 10k and one antic) with a vho ballast that can do up to 220watts for 120ish shipped.

 

I still think T-5HOS are the way to go...they are IMO better than vho if you can harness the reflection. I have 4x55 on my tank and my acro and sps and...all corals are gaining great colors. I have a 55 gal tank...and i the reason why i didn't go mh is because i didn't even want to mess with heat (i know it might not be a problem...but if it is...well.)

 

if you want corals do not buy CF if you want SPS's or clams you must have MH or maybe T5's but CF will not support anything well or enough to have it grow of live a full life. one thing thats hard for me was buying stuff now and having to upgrade later so if you know you want something save for it first so you can buy the right thing first not the second time around.

 

i agree with the idea of waiting until you can get the lights you really want. i upgraded several times. its a costly and troublesome process. bruce is completely correct about the heat problems of mh, however imo nothing comes close to it, in terms of healthy coral. you can keep mh's from heating your water if you take the time do install them far enough away from the water and or have good ventilation.