New light system on the cheap!

[Brandon.Helvie]

As I'm unfamiliar overall with lighting thought I'd share my find and see what everyone thought. Last week I saw a post on Craigslist for an aquarium lighting system, I sent a text and found out it was a 48 inch nova extreme pro. So I thought I would give it a shot and went to meet the girl about it. Come to find out it was an uncles and was only used for the initial cycling of the tank and then everything g was torn down due to a move. I know you can't always trust time frames on used equipment but I gave it a shot. So, I got the light set up with all 6 bulbs and a set of. We bulbs in the shipping packaging for $150. Deal of the century? I'm working with a 72 gallon bow front and figured the 354w total would be sufficient. Any experience with this set up?

 

[blanden.adam]

Sounds like a great setup for a tank that size. You should be able to keep pretty much anything you want (including clams and SPS) with that fixture. I wouldn't worry about how old the fixture is too much, as long as the bulbs still light, the individual reflectors are in good shape, and the fans work the fixture is ready to go IMO! Just make sure to use good quality bulbs from reputable manufacturers (ATI, KZ, Geissman etc), and note that the bulbs that come with lighting fixtures are almost universally garbage.

For more discussion on T5 bulb combinations you can head on over to any of the GrimReefer's T5 discussions in the lighting forums, or even his website. Sounds like you are off to a good start though!

 

[Brandon.Helvie]

The fixture is in excellent shape. All bulbs light fine. Two bulbs are dimmed in the middle. Was thinking due to old bulbs and maybe due to sitting for long period of time, these are the blue bulbs. Definitely need to pick up a new set to replace all but figured they would do in a pinch if needed in the future while waiting for shipments. Fan is super quiet and all is in place. Excited as all get out. One step closer to set up! Plan on mounting 2 R2 extreme led moonlights inside he fixture.

 

[spinoleo]

the stock lamps that come with the nova's are not the best lamps agree with above post check out grims thread