New school reefer, old school lighting!

[Ben.91]

So I found a brand new unopened aquaticlife r7s hid 48in fixture which is 2 x 150 watt MH and 4 x 54 watt t5s for 600 bucks. I'm a "new school" reefer and have only had expertise with Ai prime and the 52 hds. It's going in a canopy over a 90 gallon 48x18x28 tank. I have a few questions:

1. Is it worth it?
2. Will I need a chiller for 150 watt halides?
3. Has anyone had any experience with this fixture or something similar.
4. Can you put a 175 watt bulb in this fixture?

 

[Duality]

U should see about swapping out the halides and put either your Ai's (if u still have them) or radion's. I know it can be done.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I had two MH/t5 hybrid fixtures that each had two 250w MH and 2 40w t5. They worked very well for several years. I needed a chiller (but then I'm in Florida and we keep the house at 82 degrees about 9 months of the year). And I had to get replacement ballasts at 3 years.

I switched to leds and found bulbs (four MH bulbs every 2 years and four t5 bulbs every year) plus electricity (fixture is a small savings, chiller barely running is a big savings and house A/C running way less was a huge savings) savings paid for my $1000 led fixture in under 2 years.

Plus I like the control color and sunrise/sunset I have with the leds. So to answer your question, I'd pass on it without even thinking about it. If you want some t5 to support your leds, buy them separately.