Coralife dual fixture T5 HO

[Amethyst]

Does anybody have any experience with the Coralife Dual Fixture High Output T5 Aquarium Light Fixture or the Coralife Aqualight Double Linear Strip Compact Fluorescent Fixture?

The Dual Fixture HO T5 24" fixture comes with one 24W 10,000K bulb and one 24W actinic bulb. States that the 24" fixture has a PAR of about 42 and Lux value of 1463. These measurements are taken at 12” from the light bulbs. The Dual Fixture HO T5 30" fixture comes with the same, only 31W, no PAR or lux values (the stats for the 24" were in a response to a question, not as part of the regular description).

The Coralife Aqualight Double Linear Strip Compact Fluorescent Fixture, 2X65 Watt, 30 inch comes with 1x 65 watt 10K Compact Fluorescent Lamp, 1x 65 watt Actinic 03 Compact Fluorescent Lamp, Electronic Ballast, Cooling Fans and Acrylic Lamp Cover, and all required Installation hardware and power cords.

Obviously the latter provides much more light than the others - would it be overkill on my little reef tank?

My reef is currently in a 20g long, may be moved to a 29g, and I have a mix of corals including mushroom corals, a sun coral, a candy cane coral, a montipora, and chalice corals.

Any ideas or recommendations?

 

[Xavibear]

Get a 4 bulb t5.

 

[aquaticaddict]

+1 yes get the 4bulb that's what I have T5 quad HO by coralife I love it

 

[Amethyst]

Thanks!

 

[Amethyst]

I've been looking at T5 and LED on e-bay, and have found both quadT5 fixtures and LED fixtures at lower prices than other places. Not sure how to compare the two - how many watts would I need if I decided to go with LED? Would full spectrum LEDs, which include red, green, and yellow bulbs work as well as just white and blue?

Also, if I get T5s, will they be too hot sitting on the mounting legs, close to the water? Would hanging them be better?

 

[kurt_n]

T5s on legs will be fine.

Knowing what i know now, if I was starting out I wouldn't buy lighting off eBay. There is just too much junk... like, junk that can burn down your house... out there. Your LFS or a reputable online fish store will only be selling stuff that is UL approved and has a good track record. You can't count on eBay sellers for that.

As far as LEDs... I just waded into that end of the pool, coming from compact florescents, so I can't help much... except to say that it's still a confusing and constantly changing market. I'd say full spectrum is definitely where you want to look versus just white and blue, but what defines "full spectrum" is another thread!

 

[Hzuiel]

I dunno, You can see example after example of people running successful tanks on white and blue. Current tank of the month is running their lighting like that. The full spectrum I think is more for your own viewing pleasure than for the corals. Red light also encourages more algae growth. I currently have red green and uv in my fixture and when i expand my tank i may do away with that entirely.

 

[Amethyst]

I ordered the Evergrow D120 - should be here next week sometime. Its full spectrum, including white bulbs from 3500 (6) to 10000 (12) with some 6500 and 7500 as well, two or three colors of blue between nm 440 and 460, a couple of dark reds, and a couple of greens. We'll see how it works out. It comes with a hanging kit - I'm moving my reef to my 29g, so it will be 18" deep instead of 12" - how high should I hang the light? It's only 16x8", but has 90 degree lenses.