Help with 90g FOWLR lighting

[harday]

Hi, all - I could really use some help here. I just bought a 90g AGA RR tank, and I'm trying to figure out lighting. I have read and read on here, and it's very confusing. This will be a FOWLR, with about 100 lbs of rock - no corals. I do NOT want to have any heat or algae issues. My LFS suggested one 48" Aqualight T5 fixture. I spoke to Hellolights and they suggested two of these units. Two, they say, will give me very nice color but not cause any heat issues. One, they say, will be a very dimly lit tank. Can anyone comment on these 2 differing opinions? It's not the $ as these lights are pretty inexpensive. I just only want to do this once. All comments and suggestions WELCOMED. .

 

[Henry Bowman]

T5's are a good choice, should you decide in the future to add any corals or anemones. I'd go with the Hello lights recomendation and do 2 fixtures. Bulb combination is going to make a big difference in the overall look of the tank.

 

[harday]

If I need the 4 bulbs, I wish they all came in one fixture. I don't have a canopy, and I think two strips sitting up there may look kind of dumb. I see lots of 4 bulb hoods, but they are all more light than I need and more heat than I want to deal with. I just don't think I need a lot for my FOWLR to have a nice look and have the rock stay healthy. I anyone has any suggestions for other lighting systems, I'm all ears. This is very confusing to me. Thanks for any help. .

 

[harday]

I went by another fish store today, and their recommendation was the 48" Coralife Aqualight Deluxe. This looks very nice, but I am concerned about the heat. I don't want to run a chiller. Anyone have any other advice here? I want things to look nice, but not at the expense of a heat problem. I swear, I'm reading everything I can on here, but the more I read, the more confused I become. What lighting would you buy for this tank?

 

[i dont eat fish]

I have a 48" coralife aqualight (65w x 4) fixture retrofitted with two t5 HO bulbs. I couldn't be happier. It's brighter than my old 265 watts of pc. I use an advance ballast I got online for about $15, combined with icecap reflectors.

My recommendation to you would be a 2 bulb t5 retro with one blue + and one aquasun. The color will be pretty bright with a hint of blue. All you'll have to come up with is a way to mount the lamps. But if you decide to upgrade later it'll just be a matter of adding more lamps and ballasts.

 

[harday]

What kind of heat were you getting from your Aqualight? Was it noticeable?

 

[jmicky41]

On my old 90 I used 2 regular output flourescent tubes. Setup, electrical costs and bulb replacement was very affordable. Heat wasn't an issue, nor was excessive algae growth. Tank wasn't what you would call bright, but the liverock did fine - grew some coralline and the fish looked good.
On my new 125H (5' long) I went with 2 VHO. The tank is brighter, but heat is more of an issue and if I don't keep up with maintenance; algae grows rapidly.
I don't have any experience with T5, but if I was to do it again I would give them a try.

 

[i dont eat fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8991982#post8991982 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by harday
What kind of heat were you getting from your Aqualight? Was it noticeable?

It would get a little hot, not enough to burn you though. Now, with the t5's it barely gets warm at all.

 

[harday]

Thanks for the input - on the T 5's that I looked at, the Aqualight T5, they are normal output. The wattage is really low though - 28W each. When you say your T5's barely get warm, that's even true for HO? I thought they got hot like like PC's. Do you think the dual T5's would put out as much light as two regular flourescent bulbs, which jmicky said worked for his tank? I swear, it's all very confusing to me.