Suggestions for lighting 55 gallon

Suggestions for bulbs (at least based on what I have currently) - Brand (sounds like ATI or the "g" one) and type?

 

I 2nd the suggestion that your LFS is giving you false info. Under no circumstance should you consider getting a mrinland fixture. Marinland makes several usable quality marine products,....the led fixture is not one of them.

As far as fixtures, the ATI powermodule is arguable the best in the industry but more expensive. other popular ones include tek which makes a great rero fit kit.

A another up and coming all in one fixture is the Aquaticlife which is the fixture I have now. Check them out. They dont have as good of reflectors as the ATI or the Tek but other than offers more features than most fixtures at a good price. It has one powercord with a seperate timer for daylights, atinics and LED moonlights, active cooling and decent bulbs included.

As far as bulbs the two best brands are ATI and Giesmann followed by UVL.
after that there are a few companies that make one or two popular bulbs such as KZ and AquaScience.

 

There arer several diffrent combinations of bulbs you could go with and everyone on here will have a diffrent suggestion. So it all comes down to preference. It also depends on if you go with a 4 bulb or 6 bulb fixture. here are a couple suggestions.

There is a guy thats popular on RC. Very knowlagable about the par and the color combinations of the t5 bulbs. He has a page that may help you understand combinations better and also what colors what bulbs produce and what brands are good.

here is the link Reef Aquarium Lighting - Lamps and lamp combinations

 

Here is another very useful and informative thread by are very on 3reef that has many members t5 combinations and what they look like in pictures.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/t5-bulb-combinations-w-pictures-59447.html

 

My favorite fixture for my 55g reef was the Aquactinics TX5 fixture, it was my solution for having a fixture that had more than 4 T5 bulbs (it has 5 bulbs), would fit comfortably over the width of a standard 55g leaving room for tankwork and hob equipment. The only thing is that the TX5 is not in production anylonger so it's hard to find in good shape. I ran all ATI bulbs in in, and growth/coloration was great for all my LPS and softies.

I love TEK lights but my issue was with the 4-bulb fixture, when on mounts, it gave very little room in the front and back which annoyed me. The way it's designed it has a significant overhang in front and back. I did run a TEK Elite on my tank and it's performance was great, again, just found the design was a pain at times.

I would suggest looking into a TEK 4-bulb (if you don't have a lot of hob stuff on the back, so you can slide the fixture back when working in the tank), the 6-bulb would be just a bit too large for the width of your tank, unless you hang it. I also would look into 4-bulb AquaticLife fixtures, those I believe are a little less wide.

Also stick with high quality bulbs like ATI Blue +, ATI AquaBlue Special, ATI Purple Plus, Geissman is also very good. You'll get the best performance out of any fixture when you pair it with quality bulbs.

 

Last questions I swear.
What about moon lights - how important are these? I've got them with my PC's right now, but if I went with the TEK lights, I'd lose the moonlights. If I go with the Aquaticlife I can get them (but most reviews say they are too bright/intense).
Is a four bulb T5 system adequate or should I go with 6 bulb? 6 seems like overkill to me, but not sure if that's true. Thoughts?

 

Moonlights are mostly for us, they are def not necessary. Yes, the TEK does not come with moons, many make DIY moons, there are lots of options to add them to your tank via different methods.

4 good quality bulbs would be fine for most anything if they're in a good quality fixture with individual reflectors. Things like SPS, clams may need to be kept higher up near the light. I kept clams on the sandbed with my 5 & 4 bulb showing great color and growth.

The 6-bulb TEK may not fit comfortably over your tank width, as I mentioned. I believe you said you can't hang it, right? I would def go 4-bulb TEK or 4-bulb AquaticLife if either is within your budget. If you have a big budget and can hang the fixture I would go ATI Powermodule or Sunpower 4-bulb those are absolute beasts.

 

Would you recommend TEK over AquaticLife or are they about the same in your opinion? I could afford either. The TEK seems to tout better reflectors and thus better light. Other than the built in timer, and a lower price, not sure what the AquaticLife offers better (or worse).

 

As mo said moonlight are only for looks.

As far as those reviews this couldnt be further from the truth. These moonlights are awesome, imagine a pitch dark tank with nothing but the corals glowing. I have this fixture and trust me it looks beautiful with the moonlights on. not to mention the shimmer effect it gives you. Absolute best part about the Aquaticlife, along with the one cord and individual timer for all 3. not many fixutres have these features (actually ive yet to find one). but again these are the pros of the aquaticlife. the cons are it doesnt have as nice of reflectors as the tek systems but still good enough for a mixed reef.. But the Tek Reflectors will forsure make more suffcient use of the light. the cons however in the tek is if im not mistaken does not come with mounting feet and I dont believe the standard teks come with active cooling (very important) If you want the active cooling in the TEK fixture youll have to go with the TEK Elite.

As far as 4 bulb or 6 bulb. Its really not a metter of over kill. Its more a matter of your gaols. Do you want a SPS dominate tank or maybe want to be able to put them lower in the tank? Or other strong light requiring inverts? Higher growth rates? then go with the 6 bulb. If you want a mixed reef and maybe only a few SPS high up then a 4 bulb should work for you.

 

Major correction on my part. Only the tek retrofits have individual reflectors, so unless your doing a retro in a canopy the Alife is probably the better fixture because it offers 6 things the tek does not. 1.active cooling 2.Timer 3.Moonlights 4.One Power Cord. 5.Lower Price. 6.Mounting legs.