Light help/suggestions

jcohen

jcohen

Member
I have had a 75g reef tank with 3-6 fish for 10 years. Mostly soft, and everything has been relatively okay. I am currently using power compact lights and finally looking to upgrade.

Does anyone have any suggesting? Ive heard a lot about T5. I do not want to spend a fortune, but looking to upgrade. Are there different types of T5.

Also, if anyone is selling a 4 foot T5 fixture please let me know

thanks
 
There is a nice 7 bulb fixture being sold in the CMAS area of Reef Central. Otherwise the best "Budget" T5 fixture in my opinion is the Nova Extreme Pro. 6 bulbs, fan cooled, individually contoured reflectors, and can be mounted on the tank or hung.

These are the PAR readings in a 75g using all ATI bulbs:
FTS8-17-11PAR.jpg
 
Awesome reply. I also just got off the phone with Reid at Midwest Coral who gave me the run-down. I was in this am and he convinced me to upgrade this am. He just said: Tek, ATI or Current - nova: 6 or 8 bulb. Thanks, I will see if I can find that fixture for sale.
 
jcohen said:
Awesome reply. I also just got off the phone with Reid at Midwest Coral who gave me the run-down. I was in this am and he convinced me to upgrade this am. He just said: Tek, ATI or Current - nova: 6 or 8 bulb. Thanks, I will see if I can find that fixture for sale.
Click to expand...

Tek is a nice fixture because of the reflectors, but to be honest I would go with the current over the Tek. What the Tek gains in reflectors, it loses without being fan cooled. You will also have to replace bulbs more often with the Tek since the bulbs get hotter.. The workhorse and Sunpaq ballasts are very comparable.

Of course ATI is the top of the line, but it comes with the top of the line price tag too. I'm actually looking to go back to T5 right now and have been looking at the ATI 8x54w Powermodule for my 75g.
 
Im on reef central but I cant find the 7 bulb fixture. Where is the CMAS section on the website and what is CMAS? thanks- josh
 
SkullV said:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2101285

It has individual parabolic reflectors. You will get very close to TEK performance (a little more with the fans actually).
Click to expand...

I agree with Skull's info and suggestion. Ive played around with TEK's and yes they do get pretty hot which took a turn on my bulb life. Although the newer versions of the TEK now have fans, the suggested light fixture above far exceeds TEK's. Wiz.
 
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