I'm basically looking to spend around $100 or less to upgrade my tank's light. It's a 36 gallon bowfront that's farly heavily planted with Wisteria, various types of Bacopa & a single Red Amazon Sword plant. The tank's inhabitants are listed in my signature. The tank is an Aqueon and the fixture is the hood & single florescent bulb that says 17 watt daylight on it.
I found a glass top for this tank that's around $30.
I saw an Odyssea light fixture on eBay for cheap, like $70 with free shipping. But, it has bad reviews and it's really too deep at 7.5 inches and it's really a 24 inch long light with the cheesy brackets that stretch to 30 inches. It also has (4) bulbs which will be expensive to replace & the stock bulbs are considered crap anyway. It does have built in moonlight LED's.......4x24 for a total of 96 watts. Might be overkill and cheaply made according to the reviews. It looks okay, her's a picture:
Then I heard about the Current Nova Extreme 30 inch long unit with (2) T5 HO 24 watt bulbs, one 10k & 1 freshwater pink. Better bulbs, better reflectors & it fits my tank better since it's really 30 inches long. It costs $76 with free shipping. It looks rugged if not pretty, here's a picture:
I also found this one, Coralife Aqualight and it costs $96 including shipping. It has more wattage, 2x31 watts for a total of 62 watts with one 10k bulb & one freshwater pink. It looks kinda sleek but the brackets look flimsy compared to the Nova brackets:
I've heard the reflector for the Nova Extreme is better than the reflector for the Coralife..............
I just want to know if anyone has personal experience with these lights & which one you'd choose. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
I found a glass top for this tank that's around $30.
I saw an Odyssea light fixture on eBay for cheap, like $70 with free shipping. But, it has bad reviews and it's really too deep at 7.5 inches and it's really a 24 inch long light with the cheesy brackets that stretch to 30 inches. It also has (4) bulbs which will be expensive to replace & the stock bulbs are considered crap anyway. It does have built in moonlight LED's.......4x24 for a total of 96 watts. Might be overkill and cheaply made according to the reviews. It looks okay, her's a picture:
Then I heard about the Current Nova Extreme 30 inch long unit with (2) T5 HO 24 watt bulbs, one 10k & 1 freshwater pink. Better bulbs, better reflectors & it fits my tank better since it's really 30 inches long. It costs $76 with free shipping. It looks rugged if not pretty, here's a picture:
I also found this one, Coralife Aqualight and it costs $96 including shipping. It has more wattage, 2x31 watts for a total of 62 watts with one 10k bulb & one freshwater pink. It looks kinda sleek but the brackets look flimsy compared to the Nova brackets:
I've heard the reflector for the Nova Extreme is better than the reflector for the Coralife..............
I just want to know if anyone has personal experience with these lights & which one you'd choose. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
