Help with lighting asap

[Tyler6508]

I need to get some info on this light product. Afraid i might of rushed the light system and picked up the lower level light.

Nova extreme T-5 lighting system (includes: 4 lunarlights, 2x54w T5 HO Slimpaq 10,000k Daylight, 2x54w STS HO Limpaq 460nm Actinic)

USA Nova Extreme Pro T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 6X54 Watt, 48 inch

Obviously the Pro T5 is better with more watts. but i keep reading and its sayin this "Fluorescent Lamp Color Temperature
Reef tanks require half the lighting to be actinic lighting and half the lighting to be full spectrum daylight lighting. For the actinics any bulb listed as an actinic--whether it is a True Actinic, 7,100K Actinic, Actinic or 420nm Actinic--will be adequate. For the daylight bulb the best bulb for corals is the 10K (aka 10,000K) bulb. 6,700K, 8,800K, 12,000K, 14,000K & 20,000K bulbs are also fine."

This is where i get confused with lighting and keep lookin the subject over and over again.

please help i have 30 days to send the light back if it was a bad idea.

 

[72884]

It use a mixture of blue 420nm to 460nm bulbs plus 10k bulbs too.

 

[Tyler6508]

ok so it says the regular t-5 i have isnt even for sps corals and thats about all i'm lookin into. but then that paragraph says the 460 nm and the 10,000k is " best bulb for corals " and also says the bulbs i have are adequate enough

 

[Hop]

So you have the extreme or the extreme pro? If I recall correctly the pro is the one you want. i don't think the regular extreme has the individual reflectors. Perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong. As far as the bulb choice goes, you can play with that later. I would probably mix bulbs to get that crisp, balanced look. But you have plenty of time for that as you go

 

[Tyler6508]

yea they dont have the individual reflectors like the extreme pro does. is that bad?

 

[Hop]

It makes a huge difference in the amount of light put into your tank. The amount of usable light put off by the individual reflectors can make or break a T5 set up

 

[nikon187]

yeah your gonna need more light for SPS. The pro has much better reflectors comparing the 2. In regards to the colour temp, i use actinic + (22000K) aqua sun (10000K) ( Aquablue + ( 14000K suposedly) and a 75/25 ( 14000K)

 

[patsfan1130]

The extreme has one reflector that is bent in a way that each bulb is supposed to get it's own share of that "one piece" of metal. The pro has individual reflectors for each bulb. I have seen both setups in person and I really dont see much difference (to the eye) but the people I know with the extreme are very happy with them. for your setup I think an extreme unit would work. Just not so sure about the 4 bulb setup. I would have opted for the 8. that unit would allow you to keep practically anything you want. It also would be usable for any potential tank upgrades you make in the future. a little advice.....when buying equipment always try to get something rated a little bigger/better. if so, you dont have to go out and buy all new equipment when you get a bigger tank

Mark

 

[The0wn4g3]

The Nova extreme does have the performance to keep SPS, but only very near the light, and I wouldn't recommend it.
I've read that T5's with individual reflectors produce 30-40% more light downward than without individual reflectors. So, it may be more expensive, but essentially for every 2 bulbs with indiv. reflectors, you are "gaining" 1 bulb strength. 4 bulbs with indiv. reflectors is about equal to 6 bulbs w/o indiv. reflectors.
The actual color temp. is different from the PAR or "Strength" of the bulbs. With T5 bulbs there are literally thousands of bulb combinations. The Current bulbs that come with the Nova Extreme fixture are quiet weak relatively. if you can, invest in some high quality bulbs like the ATI AquaBlue Special, GE 6700, Geismann Powerchrome, or UV Super Actinic.