3 to choose from, which lighting would you buy???

T

tmn_3

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Feb 26, 2008
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Hey guys, I am new to the hobby and looking to buy my lighting. I have a 46g bow tank. My plans are to have a mixed reef tank from a few SPS and down. I have my eye on 3 different lighting units and wanted to know what you thought?
(1)The first one I found is a Nova extreme 4x39w T5HO at a really good cheap price!! Would this be enough lighting for the tank that I have in mind? (2) The next one is the same system with 6x39 T5HO, but at a little over $100 increase in price. Is it worth the money to upgrade? (3) The last system that I am looking at is a combo kit, that is about the same price as the second unit. It is made up of 2x175MH & 2x 65W Compact Fluorescent. Which one do you think that I should go with. Thanks for you time.
 
out of the 3 choices i would go with 6x39 T5HO. otherways i'm a fan of metal halide and that's what i upgraded to for my 125g
 
oh, my bad, you want to go with MH because it penetrates through the water the best and because you want to keep sps corals. i like softies and the way they look under T5's. also, the plus side to mh is that you only need to replace 2 bulbs v 6 bulbs or more
 
I too would suggest the MH/PC combo. The 175w is certainly adequate for a 45 gallon. I have a similar on my 6 foot tank, just more of them, and really like them.
 
I am not the biggest fan of the Nova fixtures. Even their extreme pro. I think the 175w combo will still likely provide you with more light. Now other nicer T5 fixtures... that's a different story. When it comes to those, unless the 175w bulb was one of the better ones, combined with a good reflector, then most 5 or more bulb T5 fixtures will outperform it in terms of intensity.
 
I would go with the MH fixture, or get the 6 bulb T5HO and upgrade to indivudual reflectors.
 
Sploke is right if you go T5 get individual reflectors you loose alot of the PAR rating from using a single reflector for all of te bulbs. If you have a chiller by all means go with the MH!
 
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