Lighting question, kinda should I upgrade or not

K

ken123

Premium Member
I was thinking of replacing my current fixture with T5's. Right now I have an Outer Orbit 2x150w HQI & 2x130w PC. I did not really have the MH come on since my tank was FOLR until recently. Only in the last month did I add softies and LPS. Was thinking of the light in the link below from Aquatraders. My tank is 24" deep, 18" wide and 48" long. First, would one fixture be enough, second, should I even consider it?

http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-4x54W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-Extendable-p/52305.htm
 
No you should not consider it IMO.

Aquatraders stuff is hit and miss. It is all Chinese with zero quality control. Some people get great fixtures that last years. Others of us get a fixture that doesn't work right from day one. Not to mention you will need to drop another $100 to switch out the bulbs.

Sounds like your tank is a 90 gallon tank. You will want a 6 bulb fixture at a minimum. I would look into ATI and Tek fixtures, only.

If you aren't ready to drop the coin on either fixture, stay with what you have and get some good 150w MH bulbs in there. I really like the Phoenix 14k bulbs. Just use some actinic PC bulbs for now or maybe see if you can retro in T5's instead. The T5's will take some work but well worth it.

Watch the buy and sell forums on here. You will find a great deal on 6 bulb Teks or ATI's if you are patient enough.
 
Thanks for the advise. I thought it would be hit or miss. Not sure what the Odyssey track record was.

I did find someone locally selling a Current USA Nova Extreme Pro T5HO 6 bulb fixture. Since my current fixture is Current-USA, it's worked for me so far. The reason I'm doing this is I don't think I need the MH since I do not have SPS and would like more light into the tank with the T5's. And save on the electric bill by not having MH lights running needlessly. Although the glimmer effect is nice, but I will sacrifice that for saving on the electric bill.

Thoughts anyone?

http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...xtures-Current_USA-CU01083-FILTFIT5T5-vi.html
 
whatever you decide to buy, the bulbs that come with those cheaper fixtures aren't good at all especially Current. Your gonna want to invest in some Ati bulbs for starters. $20 per bulb that's $120 + the fixture. Your just now getting into corals and pretty soon your tank will be full of corals somewhere down the line. I say get the Giessman or Tek unit's or keep your MH set-up and just run the halides for 4-6 hours. The price of the Giessman equals about the same as DIY LED set-up you could build yourself and not have to worry about electrical costs at all for 10 years
 
I'd probably have to replace the bulbs right off the start since he said he still has the original Current bulbs and they are 8 months old. With the fixture I have to replace all the bulbs will be like $200 for mine vs $120 for T5's. Damn this sucks.

I never looked into the LED fixtures. I'm into DIY. Would that be worth it for me to DIY my own LED fixture? What would be the cost involved for a tank my size?
 
Odyssea has improved their fixtures vastly. The bulbs are no good, that's a given. But even after replacing the bulbs you still come out ahead. Buy the Odyssea, replace the 10k's that come with it and keep the actinics.
 
I have read that they are not true to their listed color temperature. People think they are a little too yellow. I can't speak for their mh bulbs but I do own two t5 fixtures.
 
ken123 start looking into the previous led projects in the "diy" forum and think about an led set-up. I say do it right the first time!
 
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