T5 lighting help.

Well i just started my 36 gallon bowfront 2 months ago. I've been working on trying to find the best t5 light that is 30 inch wide for it. I think this one is the highest watt one i could find.
30 inch 4 lamp Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5 Lighting Fixture Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5 Light Fixture
Do you guys think this would be enough light to keep some descent coral? I also have other questions but i'll just start with one for now. Thanks everyone!!

 

Coralife bulbs are not the best and no one else makes 30" bulbs. I would suggest getting a 24" fixture like the Current Nova Extreme or Aquatic Life as a solid light. You will then be able to replace the stock bulbs after 3 to 6 months with top of the line bulbs.

 

Ok thanks. Well what about this one then? Current USA 30" Sundial T-5 Fixture 4x24W + LED - AquaCave

 

Or there's also this one. AquaticLife T5 HO 4-Lamp Light Fixtures w/ Lunar LEDs I'm sorry these are alot of money and i wanna make sure i get the right one for me.

 

The idea is to get a fixture that uses smaller bulbs. If you get the 30" ones, you're gonna have issues finding quality bulbs to replace with.

 

+1 on upgrading the bulbs.
I have the aquatic life 36" fixture, it works great, I love it but the stock bulbs are not that great. You will have to upgrade your bulbs.

 

Thanks blakraven. The aquaticlife 30" comes with 4 24" 24 watt bulbs. So do you think that those 24" bulbs at 24 watts would be better then the 30" 31 watt coralife bulbs? That's 7 watts less per bulb at a total of 28 watts less overall . But i've read around that watts really doesn't matter it's more the type of bulb. I'm really liking the aquaticlife fixture cause of it's built in timer.

 

Yes without doubt

you can get ATI, Geisseman, UVL and loads of other T5 lamp brands in the 24 inch size
but the 30 inch size, you dont have many options at all

Steve

 

Yea i'd prob do that. But not right away. I first gotta come up with the 300 for the fixture. A new set of bulbs prob will run about a extra 100 bucks or so. I'm sure the stock bulbs will be a improvement over the single 20 watt bulb i currently am using .

 

K thanks. But i'm wondering that with it only being 24" that means there wouldn't be lights over the ends of the tank. So does that mean i wouldn't be able to have corals on the ends or will the reflectors spread the light over the the ends? Sorry i know it's kinda a dumb question but hey lol.