what light fixture would you buy with 1500 dollars for a 72 inch tank size

[Steven Pro]

Here is an excellent article on lighting,
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/b/sbj4/aquarium/articles/Photosynthesis.htm

It is a complicated subject, but hopefully the above piece will get you off to a good start.

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

Very interesting article . Just makes me wonder what would be the best lights after all . Can you get all that info from a light company ?

 

[ReeferMonkey]

Some folks are happy with the AquaAcitnics products but IMO they use crap MIRO reflectors. There are much better options on the market and a good reflector will make or break your lamp.

There are a couple of issues that no one here is touching on.

What color temp/lamp combo do you want?
Can you live without actinic supplementation?
Are you open top or in a canopy?

If you are open top and really have to have actinics, the Maristar isn't such a bad option although Herbert makes good points about the fixtures going bad.

If you have a canopy and need actinics, you can get ROIII reflectors with 250W DE bulbs and supplement using VHO actinic.

If you have don't need actinic, you can use pendants in either case - open top or canopy. While a sleek pendant is very nice, a couple of simple reflectors (ROIII being the best, again) can have a pseudo-industrial appeal that isn't so bad.

More money == best decision. Besides, any cash you save can go into more equipment right?

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Lol, save the extra $1000 and get a deltec...

 

[ReeferMonkey]

Why waste the money on a Deltec when you could get a DAS at half the price?

(DAS has a license from Deltec and makes almost the exact same skimmer at 1/2 - 2/3 the cost)

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

?DAS? Im interested...thought I had heard of them all...got a link (sorry for the hijack BTW)

 

[ReeferMonkey]

A friend of mine sells them as a licensed DAS distributor, sending you a PM...

 

[Steven Pro]

DAS builds the Dutch aquariums that a lot of Petlands sell.

 

[moonpod]

DAS builds the turbo style skimmers under license from Deltec.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=648312

WAY off tangent here...

 

[rdmpe]

I think the maristars do use good reflectors ( ROIII ) for the MH lights, and also have good T5 reflectors. The T5 addition will allow you to tweak the lighting, dusk/dawn, etc. I don't know if they'll send you a new fixture if yours has to go in for repair though, and shipping is $$$ vs. a single pendant.

 

[moonpod]

rdmpe, the maristar does use ROIII+ reflectors for their MH and teklights for the T5. Correspondingly the PFO acrolight uses the "new" mini reflectors and your choice of T5, VHO or PC supplementals.

The redundancy issues that HK points out is valid however. Personally I am using ROIII pendants over my new tank.

 

[GeneSilvey]

T5's don't do a damn thing to MH's. I have seen it myself. Get VHOs or PCs.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Gotta have the right T5's, the actinic doesn't do much. I have 3 250 watt 14K halides and 2 54 watt Superblue T5's make a noticable difference, and these are the cheap Helios striplight T5's. It would be huge with 10K halides and these T5's in real reflectors. Companies are starting to get the actinic T5's right. The blueplus T5 may not fluoresce like a VHO actinic but the blue light looks a lot nicer.

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Ahhh, all this debate on what actinic to get...whats best...VHO, T5, and I think we can all argee that PC is not a contender anymore...but still...what a PITA.

See why I just get halides without all that actinic extra stuff. I just get bluer bulbs. If you want a dust dawn effect, time individual ballasts to come on at different times. At noon, you could have your far left light come on and go off at 8pm. The middle bulb could come on at 1pm and off at 10pm. The other end could come on at 2pm and off at 11pm...or set it up for the middle to go off last....whichever. Or, if you really want cool night lighting, put a couple 150watt HQI fixtures towards the back with radium bulbs in them...set to come on at dusk.

 

[rdmpe]

... Superblue T5's ... with 10K halides ... in real reflectors...

This setup in a 72" Maristar is my plan tho I haven't decided between 10K, 14K or something in between.

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

14,000K pheonix is my fav

 

[The Grim Reefer]

They are actually getting some decent looking PC actinics now. Some are better than the T5 actinic (I know that aint saying much). I don't understand why ATI/D&D haven't improved their actinic. Catalina has one that looks better and Helios has 3 different ones that IMO look better depending on your taste. If these guys can do it so can the Germans.

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

"If these guys can do it so can the Germans."
-Grim

Lol. Just like: "If these guys (japanese) can do it (make a car that is technically advanced yet very reliable) so can the germans (make a car even as simple as a VW without electrical and mechanical failures up the wazoo!)."

Not always the case. Some companies, OASE, eheim group, TUNZE, and sometimes Geisemann...never cease to impress me. Aquamedic and some others OTOH...are pretty hit & miss like a VW.

I still think its just better to use bluer halides and skip actinics all together.

 

[Mark]

I've been extremely please with my AB 72" Oceanlight fixture. Go figure.

Plus all this talk about optimal reflectors and such, you guys should read this article

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/8/aafeature

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Hey, I like some of the stuff Aqualine puts out...their 20,000Ks are among my favorite bulbs (talk about a long lived 20,000K). I was just poking fun at the idea that German is always better.

That is a sweet light...what's it got?