About lights

R

reiverix

Aye
Sep 4, 2004
1,470
0
0
57
Columbus, OH
Ok so I'm into my first year of reefing and now I'm thinking about trying my hand at a few SPS corals. I'm almost at a position where I can upgrade my lighting but not sure on the direction to take. Currently I'm sitting on 8*65w PC on a 75g tank.

So, I'm thinking about either 2*250w metal halide pendants or 8*54w HO T5. I'm kind of leaning towards the T5s since they run cooler but would like a few opinions to help get me on the right track.
 
Go with the t5s, metal halides are good, but you don't need them. Cooling is ridiculous and it'll heat up an entire room.
 
Yeah, the tank is in my bedroom along with a 75g FW planted with 300w of light so you can imagine that the AC works overtime to keep up. I don't have a problem with overheating but do feel like I'm wasting money.

I like the look of the TEK Systems 8*54w setup. Anyone tried it?
 
IMO MH lights are the way to go. I take it that you are talking about your 55 gallon. The corals that you have in the tank now will love the extra light and the look is IMO much nicer with the MH bulbs. If heat is a factor, I would suggest using two 175watt HQI 10k bulbs with 2 t-5's. You could also run the HQI's with your existing PC's. If you combine the t-5's with the HQI, you could run two actinics with two 6500k to give you a nice full range of light. If you are going to do SPS corals, MH is the way to go. They are light hogs.
 
The 55g has been dismantled. I really should update my profile. I upgraded to a 75g (reef ready, and for the extra width) that's why I was looking at 2*250w MH pendants if I go the MH route that is.

I should also mention that the reef really belongs to the wife and lighting isn't cheap so I want to do this right and not regret it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom