Help! lights ,lights, and more lights

[Captnslapy]

K I'll start with the tank. I think it's 38 gallon, 36x12x20. I have about 30 #'s of live rock and 20-30#'s of live sand. My wife was complaining about another tank till I built a new stand and put the sw fish and dried coral in it. Looks pretty nice. Well now "she" wants coral. I was looking at t5 , but how many watts do I need to go. I have seen plenty with one bulb then plenty with 4. Will this be enuff
36" 4x 39W HO T5 Aquarium 156W Reef Light T5 lo profile,

off of ebay. It's doesn't have any fans? Do I need them? And is $100 a good price for this? Could i go with something smaller? thanks for the help.

[Sweetheart]

Yes it's a 38 gallon tank. I believe for a SW tank it's about 4 watts per gallon. So it's about 152 watts for your tank. Or if your still unsure about it, you could just go to your LFS and ask them about it.

[Captnslapy]

Hey thanks for the help everyone.:thm: I could go to the lfs, but they always try to oversell. I went to one and the only light they wanted to show me was over $300. And as we all know they aren't always the best place for information. Just thought with all the experts on here that I could get a little insight on what I need. Wasn't sure if it was better to have a few higher power bulbs or go with more smaller ones?

[Amphiprion]

If possible, I'd recommend looking at these fixtures (http://http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770). They are reasonably priced, work well enough, and feature individual lamp reflectors (Single Lamp Reflector = SLR). I think you will get more bang-for-your-buck this way and not come out bankrupt.

[Sploke]

a 4 bulb T5HO fixture would be pretty good over a tank that size, esp if you retrofit it with individual bulb reflectors if it doesn't have them. That will be enough to to LPS and possibly some of the easier SPS too as long as you have enough flow.

[Captnslapy]

Thanks for the info. I tried to look at that link but it didn'twork.

[Lobo.]

I made my first reef tank's lights using compound flouressent bulbs from home depot, the "daylight" rated bulbs glow between 5,500 and 6,500 kelvin and are very cheap; however, unless CF bulb technology has gotten a lot better in 2 years these lights will only be good for low-light corals.

Later I bought lights of ebay for even cheaper, used lights are the way to go.

ebay lights (http://shop.ebay.com/items/__aquarium-lights_W0QQ_kwZaquariumQQ_kwZlightsQQ_armZ1QQ_armi ZaquariumQ20150wattQ20lightsQQ_armmZ104QQ_ckwZ150w attQQ_fromfsbZQQ_ruuZhttpQ3aQ2fQ2fshopQ2eebayQ2eco mQ2fitemsQ2fQ5fQ5faquariumQ2d150wattQ2dlightsQ5fW0 Q51Q51Q5fnkwQ5AaquariumQ5120150wattQ5120lightsQ51Q 51Q5farrQ5A1Q51Q51Q5ffromfsbQ5AQ51Q51Q5ftrksidQ5Am 270Q512el1313QQ_trksidZm270Q2el1313)

[Amphiprion]

Here is a revised link--should work:

Nova Extreme SLR T5 fixtures (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770)

If the above link does not work, try copy and pasting the link here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770

Honestly, I'd consider the T5 fixture over a compact fluorescent any day. When shopping for T5s, it is also essential to look and see whether or not it has individual reflectors. Otherwise, you'll be wasting wattage and money.

[j_chicago]

Not always sure if buying used is better then buying new. If you take in the fact that the bulbs cost a good chunk of change and that will most likely needed to be done since the previous owner probably didn't replace them before selling the unit. That alone could be almost half the cost of a new T5 unit. Then factor the wear and tear on the unit and transformer and no warranty.

[Captnslapy]

good point there. I'm not big on buying electronics used anyway.

[masterkaw]

Here is a revised link--should work:

Nova Extreme SLR T5 fixtures (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770)

If the above link does not work, try copy and pasting the link here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770

Honestly, I'd consider the T5 fixture over a compact fluorescent any day. When shopping for T5s, it is also essential to look and see whether or not it has individual reflectors. Otherwise, you'll be wasting wattage and money.
Amphiprion, What light would you think is better? 1. A Nova Extreme SLR T5 fixture with 4 bulbs, or, 2. A Nova Extreme (not SLR) T5 fixture with 8 bulbs.

[Amphiprion]

The 8 bulb would likely have the advantage. I don't know by how great of a margin, however. I wouldn't imagine it'd be tremendous by any means. The trick is, for around the same price of the 8 bulb nova fixture, you can get an 8 bulb Tek fixture, which features far better individual reflectors (and a better lamp selection). That'd be the route I'd go in your situation.

[masterkaw]

The 8 bulb would likely have the advantage. I don't know by how great of a margin, however. I wouldn't imagine it'd be tremendous by any means. The trick is, for around the same price of the 8 bulb nova fixture, you can get an 8 bulb Tek fixture, which features far better individual reflectors (and a better lamp selection). That'd be the route I'd go in your situation.
This is the 8 bulb fixture I'm talking about. I research the Tek fixture and it is about twice the price of this Nova Extreme. It's on ebay:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280287562657
Tell me what you think.

Thank you for your help.

[Amphiprion]

The 8 bulb Nova fixtures at standard retail price are around $450 or so. The 8 bulb TEK without bulbs is ~$420, plus ~$100 for much better bulbs. If you can get the 8 bulb fixture for $219, then go for it.

[masterkaw]

The 8 bulb Nova fixtures at standard retail price are around $450 or so. The 8 bulb TEK without bulbs is ~$420, plus ~$100 for much better bulbs. If you can get the 8 bulb fixture for $219, then go for it.
One last question and I'll let you go. If you were to pick T5's over metal halide, which one would you prefer and why?

Thank you again for all your help.

[masterkaw]

One last question and I'll let you go. If you were to pick T5's over metal halide, which one would you prefer and why?

Thank you again for all your help.

I'm not sure if I worded this correctly, my question is if you were to pick T5's or metal halide, which one would you pick? Why?

[Amphiprion]

That all depends upon the application. For moderate-sized tanks (up to ~100 gallons), I'd choose T5s, since a good installation can still be done cheaply and the energy usage is efficient. However, on larger tanks, it is far more economical (in terms of money spent vs. light output) to use metal halide. It would also depend upon how much room you have to fit halides in the canopy (or if it is open topped), etc. etc. In the end, both work very well.

[donk18]

have you looked at hellolights.com. i just got a 175 watt metal halide retrofit kit and bulb for 125.00 and will cost about 40.00 or 50.00 to build a nice canopy for my 29gallon. they have the 250 watt retrofit for 10.00 more that is the route i would go. can't go wrong with that if you don't mind diying stuff. my whole tank is diy or sale items down to the sump and skimmer. i feel i get more satisfaction doing it myself plus i gain tons of knowledge.