What Kind Of Lighting?

[Dorkhedeos]

The tank is a 20g, 24x12x16. I am planning on having acans, blastos, micros, favia, chalice, and maybe some softies. I dont want to spend over 75 bucks on lights for this tank though. I am looking for something efficient, but i also do not want to spend a lot for replacement bulbs. Please give your opinions of these lights and which you would choose if you were in my situation. Im trying to keep the lighting to under 120W, and the whole system under 225W


[URL="http/www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqu...inear-strip.php"]http/www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqu...inear-strip.php[/URL] 2 Bulb T-5 28W
I was thinking these might work because they are cheap, and bulbs are cheap. I can get 2 of these for the price of 1 PC fixture. Cheapest to run

[URL="http/www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqu...inear-strip.php"]http/www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqu...inear-strip.php[/URL] 1 PC 65 W
Beats the dual linear T-5, twice the price though. Decent electricity upkeep.

[URL="http/fishneedit.com/t5ho-2ft--4lamps-light.html"]http/fishneedit.com/t5ho-2ft--4lamps-light.html[/URL] 4 Bulb T-5 HO 48W
Beats the dual linear T-5, but costs a little more, cheap bulb replacement. Pretty good electricity upkeep.

[URL="http/fishneedit.com/t5ho-24quot-2-lamp-aquarium-l.html"]http/fishneedit.com/t5ho-24quot-2-lamp-aquarium-l.html[/URL] 2 Bulb T-5 HO 96W
Beats all of them, its about the same price as the PC, but bulbs are close to 2/3 the fixture price. Most expensive to run, but most powerful.

Please help me out. I dont mind having 2 of one fixture on the tank because itll have a canopy. Im stuck deciding on what to do. Please leave your input, thanks.

Edit: just undid the url text thingy

 

[OldMan47]

This is just a guess, did you mean to post in the salt water section? A light level similar to what you are talking about is seldom ever seen over a freshwater tank.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

My bad, would a mod mind moving this to marine chit chat? I have been posting so many posts on tropical chitchat that I put all my posts here

 

[SkiFletch]

Anyway you could link to some of the products your thinking of dorkedos? Some might not be worth their weight in glass

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Oh whoops, i guess i shouldnt have made the actual text the link lemme go edit that right now

 

[SkiFletch]

Tough to say, but those T5 fixtures look like cheap chinese knockoffs that may or may not have individual reflectors. If they do, great, if not, they're not worth it.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

The 4 bulb one has 1 reflector for the whole thing. My lfs has it on the display 46g bow and it looks pretty nice, but im not sure if im willing to dish out 75 bucks for that though. Do you have anything else in mind? Maybe I can somehow get or make individual reflectors?

 

[SkiFletch]

You can always get reflectors, but the question is will they fit... Single reflector setups stink, and aren't worth the $$ IMO. Are you definitely looking for an overtank type fixture, no option of putting things in a hood?

 

[Dorkhedeos]

What do you mean hood? I just need something that isnt too expensive, works, and is efficient. If the light is too expensive or costs too much to run, my mom is going to kill me

 

[SkiFletch]

Ah, I see. Well none of those lights will put much of a dent in your electricity bill. And as for fixture cost, well you're probably not going to get one with individual reflectors thats only 24" long unless you build your own hood and put them in there. Even if you could find one with individual reflectors that was 24" long, you'd probably end up paying some hefty coin for it which it sounds like you're not able to do. Therefore you have to expect mediocre performance from your lighting. This is usually OK for shallow tanks, but don't go expecting really high-light corals/clams/nems to thrive in the tank. I'd suggest the 4-tube model

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Yeah, I dont mind making my own hood, thats an easy task for me. Do you have a set you could recommend me? Im just planning on having some of the higher end lps, no sps or maximas, maybe a durasa if i have enough space.

 

[SkiFletch]

They're called retrofit systems, here's a couple (but by no means inclusive) examples

[URL="http/www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1349"]http/www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;ProdID=1349[/URL]

[URL="http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~SearchStr~~action~view~idProduct~CU01130~idCategory~FILTRTRFT5~category~24_inch_Current_USA_Nova_Extreme_T5_HO_Retrofit_1_24W_10K_1_24W_460nm_For_T5~vendor~.html"]http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~Sea...T5~vendor~.html[/URL]

Dual-lamp kits like those will probably give more PAR on the corals than that 4-tube fixture, AND will be less expensive to run longterm

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Thanks for the advice I was thinking retrofit, but i thought those were only for upgrading other fixtures like biocubes and stuff

Edit: Do you think it would be cheaper if i just bought the ballast and the reflectors separately? 95 is still a lot for me. Can you find this stuff at like homedepot or sears? Which brands would you recommend?

Ive noticed that icecap slr reflectors are a lot better than the tek reflectors in smaller tanks. What other brands of reflectors compare to the icecap?

 

[SkiFletch]

HD/Lowes do not sell T5HO fixtures, so you're SOL there. Your only other possible option would be to look in the world of hydroponics, perhaps they have something similar.

And about the only reflectors other than Icecap or Tek that work well are Geismann, and you don't have a second morgatge to buy those

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Im just having trouble finding the ballast right now. I can just use normal wires right? So basically, I need endcaps, reflector, and a ballast? I was thinking for the endcaps, either one of these, probably the cheaper one [URL="http/www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic...ndexid=lt-t5-ec"]http/www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic...ndexid=lt-t5-ec[/URL]

I am still not sure about the ballast though? Do you think it is possible to get one under 40?

Edit: Oh yeah, for the bulbs, which brand would you recommend? So far, I have seen these, coralvue, jalli, pacific coast, sunlight supply, uv lighting, and viaaqua.