Let's See Some T5 Only Lite Tanks (remember Just T5 Lite Tanks) :-)

yeah, john will match that reefgeek price...


but i was referring to the DIY retrofit kit aqualux sells.

i got my 3x39w t5ho retro delivered for ~$170
and that was with 2 ati 20000k blue bulbs (just under 30 bucks), and one ge starcoat 6500k day (13-15 dollars or so...)


theres no way sunlight supply can beat that price, and the reflectors are better too, a little wider, but more PAR....
 
horkn said:
yeah, john will match that reefgeek price...


but i was referring to the DIY retrofit kit aqualux sells.

i got my 3x39w t5ho retro delivered for ~$170
and that was with 2 ati 20000k blue bulbs (just under 30 bucks), and one ge starcoat 6500k day (13-15 dollars or so...)


theres no way sunlight supply can beat that price, and the reflectors are better too, a little wider, but more PAR....
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good deal. What were the par measurements on those reflectors?
 
yeh- but i do not want a retro - i want the plug and play out the box-ok maybe not that easy but you know
 
exactly i dont know, but the grim reefer checked them all, and the teks were the lowest par ratings (10-20percent less than the icecap and computer designed aqualux sold ones)


at 18" (i think) the icecap, and the aqualux reflectors were tied for PAR, and the tek was 10% less...

at 24" the icecap barely edged out the aqualux reflectors for par, and the tek reflectors were 20% less for par at that depth...
for the price, i think 13 bux a 36" reflector you can not beat it...considering they run neck and neck with the pricey icecap ones for nearly 1/3 of the price...

with 3.34 wpg on my 35 gallon, its damn bright......i really dont see a need for overdriving t5s on 18" deep tanks.. maybe on 2 foot deep ones it would allow more light greedy species on the sandbed, but i guess thats all personal preference....
 
alpha.. if you want a pretty much plug and play unit.. get the teklight hood.. its pretty much the only gig as far as hoods....

aqualux does carry them, and if the price is more than reefgeek, then they will match...

but if you actually call or email john, i gurantee he will not only meet reefgeeks price, but beat it....

i hear reefgeek is awesome to deal with, but so is aqualux, so i go where i can save the most money, and get the best product....
 
Got mine from Greg at Reefgeek. If someone will match it, why not just go to the source of the good price. His service is great too. JMO,

Russ
 
horkn said:
i think 13 bux a 36" reflector you can not beat it...considering they run neck and neck with the pricey icecap ones for nearly 1/3 of the price...
Click to expand...
Horkin. You need to check prices. The IC reflectors are NOT 3X the price of the Aqualux.

Getting the IC with the ability to fit more bulbs in a hood is well worth the few extra $$ IMO.

IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-24W Bulb $23.95
IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-39W Bulb $24.95
IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-54W Bulb $25.95
 
Here is a list of current reflector prices. The IC and SLS are Reefgeek. The CDR is from AquaLux

Sunlight Supply T5 Parabolic Retrofit Reflector for 1-24W Bulb $16.95
Sunlight Supply T5 Parabolic Retrofit Reflector for 1-39W Bulb $18.95
Sunlight Supply T5 Parabolic Retrofit Reflector for 1-54W Bulb $20.95
Sunlight Supply T5 Parabolic Retrofit Reflector for 1-80W Bulb $21.95

IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-24W Bulb $23.95
IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-39W Bulb $24.95
IceCap SLR T5 Retrofit Reflector for 1-54W Bulb $25.95

22.5" Computer Designed Reflectors for T5Bulb clips included Regular price: $14.26 Sale price: $10.99
34.5" Computer Designed Reflectors for T5Bulb clips included Regular price: $17.15 Sale price: $13.72
46.5" Computer Designed Reflectors for T5Bulb clips included Regular price: $20.04 Sale price: $15.99
58.5" Computer Designed Reflectors for T5Bulb clips included Regular price: $22.93 Sale price: $18.34
 
OK..ok after reading through this thread and looking at the current TOTM I am starting to like T-5.
I currrently have
2x250 watt 10k XM and
2x110watt VHO Actinic
on ARO E-Ballasts over my 120(4X2X2).

For some reason I feel that I need more lighting over my tank despite the current 720watts which I feel is not enough. My question is what is the best Ballast,Reflector and bulbs available and where can I purchase them. Retrofit kit would be best.
 
SunnyX said:
OK..ok after reading through this thread and looking at the current TOTM I am starting to like T-5.
I currrently have
2x250 watt 10k XM and
2x110watt VHO Actinic
on ARO E-Ballasts over my 120(4X2X2).

For some reason I feel that I need more lighting over my tank despite the current 720watts which I feel is not enough. My question is what is the best Ballast,Reflector and bulbs available and where can I purchase them. Retrofit kit would be best.
Click to expand...

Your ARO ballasts might overdrive T5's, I don't know of anyone who has tried it but the Ice Cap VHO ballast do.

I went from 6 overdriven 80 watt T5's on my tank to 3 150 watt halides that provide less par and my corals look better (as in healthier). I am not so sure I wasn't putting too much light in my 23.5" tall tank for the leathers and LPS. The look you may be drooling over could be from the Blueplus lamps. They don't fluoresce the corals as good as the VHO actinic but they put out a nice blue color about like a radium halide lamp does.

You could order 2 Blue plus lamps with endcaps and Ice Cap reflectors from reefgeek.com (you said you wanted the best) and see if your ballast will run them. Another option would be to stack 2 blueplus T5's with your VHO's. An Ice Cap 660 ballast is able to run the T5's and VHO's together. Not sure if the ARO can do that.

Reefgeek vs. Aqualux. Well, reefgeek has a lot better selection of products. I allways felt that you were better off sticking with one vendor even if they didn't have the lowestprices on every item because it would pay off in the long run. It didn't work out that way for me with Reefgeek. After spending a considerable amount of money with them and recomending them here many, many times before they were even a sponsor they failed me in the loyalty department. I will still order from them if the price is the lowest (just got about a 300 dollar order in from them) but I don't feelthey earned my blind loyalty.

I have ordered from Aqualux also. There was an issue with some drop shipped lamps that arrived broken and the replacements that were shipped were the wrong lamps. It is the suppliers fault and not Aqualux but Aqualux has to resolve the problem. It has taken far too long to get this resolved. Since I got the halides I told John it wasn't a huge rush but it shouldn't take this long to get resolved. I am sure based on his prices he is a pretty busy guy so that is the trade off.

I'd say shop price AND COMPARE SHIPPING CHARGES.
 
2 More Bulbs

2 More Bulbs

All,

I currently have 4 bulbs but will like to add two more. Here is my setup:

Pure Actinic
Aquablue+
Pure Actinic
Aquablue+

Driven by a 660 IceCap with SLR reflectors over a 90g tank.

What would you recommend for the other 2 bulbs?

Pedro
 
Is that Aquablue plus you list the aquablue? I'd try a Ge day and a Blue plus if it were me. The GE makes the red and yellow colors look more natural and the blueplus washes out the green color of the GE lamp.
 
The Grim Reefer said:


Reefgeek vs. Aqualux. Well, reefgeek has a lot better selection of products.
Click to expand...

There are a few reasons to support Reefgeek.
1) customer service... It's his slogan now, lol. But, more power too him. Quite a few of us have spent plenty of his time trying to understand our expensive choices. He/they are more informed than the customer service support I have recieved from the actual companies support teams.
2) He/they only carry the good stuff. There are no pop up windows for ... puffer chew toys. Your not going to have to sift through the crud to get something worth while. Any choice you make there is a good choice.

Thats not to say you should make All your purchaces there. But, as long as they have quality products at great prices, with wonderful service, we should support him/them when we can.
 
Ball said:
Here is my tank lit by a 6 bulb Tek light.

Blue+
GE Sun
Aquablue
Aquablue
Aquablue
Blue+

http://notlehs.home.mchsi.com/salt12/2_21_05_full.jpg
Click to expand...

:smokin:
2_21_05_full.jpg
 
Ball: what wattage and what size tank, also how deep from water surface to sand bed?
 
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