Lighting my 10g

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pbecot01

AC Members
Dec 27, 2004
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McGuire AFB, NJ
I'm getting ready to buy the lighting for my 10G reef.

The two options are...

BEST: Coralife 96W 20" fixture.

Not as good: Odysea 24" 130W fixture


The Odysea won't be as high quality but the extra wattage should make up for that... but the problem is that it's 4" too long for the tank. Does anyone have any experience in using this kind of light? I will definantly need it to be off the water a little bit... how do you do that if it's too long to use the included stands? Maybe it'd be worth the extra 60 bucks to go with the coralife, but money is always tight ;)
 
The mounts on an Odyssea light don't slide along a track like mounts for Orbit and Satellite fixtures; they're fixed at the ends, so you won't be able to use them on a 20" tank. The bulbs that come with these fixtures are, IMHO, garbage but other than that there's nothing wrong with them. The Coralife fixture is probably your best bet, unless you're planning to upgrade to a 24" tank in the near future. Something to consider is that neither of these gives you the option to set up bulbs on separate timers for a 'dawn/dusk' effect (I think other Coralife fixtures do, but a 96W 'quad' has a single bulb so it's either on or off).

If you're considering a 24" fixture, why not go with a Satellite or Orbit (same thing, different shape)? The docking mounts slide in so you can use them on a smaller tank, the bulbs are separate so you can use two timers, the fan is better quality and there's a moonlight as well. I've got two Satellites, an All-Glass PC fixture, a Coralife T5 fixture and a Jebo Odyssea PC fixture. They all work, but the Satellites are hands down my favourites; you really do get what you pay for.
 
The only reason I was really considering the 24" fixture is because 70 is easy to get from the wife, while 120 for some reason isn't ;)

Thanks for the response, i'll probably pass on the odyssea.
 
LOL I guess that's where I have the advantage - I am the wife, and the bookkeeper of the family. I think my husband sometimes regrets the decision to let me handle the money! :D
 
I also have a Satellite, and will vouch for it.
 
I have the exact 130 watt Odyssea you are referring too. Get something better. It only has one power source, like stated above. So this means you cannot have the moon lights, the blue, etc on seperate timers, which really sucks.

I also own a satellite, it is much better.
 
Actually, I didn't know there was a 20" sattelite fixture for a comparable price to the coralife one. I think that's next on my shopping list. When's payday? lol
 
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