Lighting Question

[vetdog]

I am looking to replace my current 36" satellite with something a little better. Wondering if anyone has a ny suggestions? I've been looking at the Orbit 2 x 96 watt with LED lunar. Anybody have pics of tanks using this light or comments?

Thanks!!
Jon

[ooja3k]

What kind of tank do you have/want???

If it for a FOWLR, then not a big deal, but if you have corals, then it is a different story.

Also it is helpful to know if you have any heat issues (which would eliminate metal halides from your options..)


I have a 36" Nova Extreme T-5 setup over my 30gal long tank... 4 bulbs, with one reflector over all the bulbs... This light works GREAT for the money.. I am currently keeping zoas, palys, frogspawn, mushrooms, and trumpetcorals under these lights and have seen great growth out of everything in the short time the tank has been set-up.. This non-individually reflected T-5 fixture is a great fixture for your tank providing you want to keep low-mid light demanding corals..

if you want to keep more light demanding corals, I would suggest looking at T-5 fixtures with individual reflectors such as the aquactinics TX5 or a tek fixture. The individual reflectors on these models increase the light output into the tank by quite a bit, and these fixtures can be used to keep everything from mushrooms and zoas, to a heavily dominated SPS tank.. Nova also has come out with a Pro model T-5 fixture that has individual reflectors.. Ive heard good things about this fixture so far too..

Hope that helps..

For more help let us know what your needs/wants are for your tank and we can help you out more.

[vetdog]

I have a 30gallon reef system. Various softies(zooanthids, mushrooms, etc.) 30+lbs. live rock. Two maroon clowns and some invertebrates.What do you feel the benefits are of T5 vs. PC?

[archer772]

Well T-5's should give you a par reading of about 120-180 at about 18 inches and the PC's should give you a par reading of about 50-60 at 18 inches if I remember correctly. Depending on the setups the T-5's should run much cooler and you would use less electric for the better lighting and T-5 bulbs can last up to 2 years and the PC's should be changed out at least every 9 months and T-5 bulbs I think would be cheaper per bulb and would need to be replaced less often. I am not sure on the dimensions of your 30 but with T-5's you should be able to keep anything you would want all the way to the bottom of your tank where with PC's you would be limited with what you can keep and the placement of the corals.

[vetdog]

Are you using the Extreme or the Extreme pro? I like that the extreme has the lunar led and is much cheaper.

[vetdog]

Well T-5's should give you a par reading of about 120-180 at about 18 inches and the PC's should give you a par reading of about 50-60 at 18 inches if I remember correctly. Depending on the setups the T-5's should run much cooler and you would use less electric for the better lighting and T-5 bulbs can last up to 2 years and the PC's should be changed out at least every 9 months and T-5 bulbs I think would be cheaper per bulb and would need to be replaced less often. I am not sure on the dimensions of your 30 but with T-5's you should be able to keep anything you would want all the way to the bottom of your tank where with PC's you would be limited with what you can keep and the placement of the corals.

So the current satellite which runs at 192 watts for the 36" PC will not be as good as the Current Nova extreme at 156 watts? Sorry I am confused by the whole lighting thing. I thought you just looked at the wattage. What is par?

[archer772]

Par is a measurement of useable light given off by lighting, here is a link that might help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation
The difference between the 2 Nova lights is that the pro has individual refletors and the other one has 1 reflector covering all of the bulbs so some of the light is lost by not being reflected back down, by useing individual reflectors you double the light from a single bulb. The WPG rule was used many years ago when everybody was running T-12 lighting so it was a somewhat usefull rule of thumb but with the different type of lighting it now is useless. Here is another link that might help you.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134716

[vetdog]

thanks for the links. they were both very helpful!