Hey all here's an update for anyone looking to purchase lights.

[D12monkey]

Here's my recommendation after purchasing these new lights..... FORGET ALL OTHERS unless you plan on keeping Small Polyp Stonies (SPS). These are by far the brightest lights I've seen on any tank or displays. It's the T5 lights by Current USA... These are called T5 Nova lights... I have purchased 2 10,000K fixtures and 1 Blue actinic fixture for $21.00 each at my Local Fish Supplier and it's almost as bright as my 250W Metal Halide and the 300W blue Actinic Very High Output (VHO) lights. I mean these lights are bright. You just don't get that nice ripple effect on the tank. I'm gonna be replacing all my Power Compact (PC) lights and VHOs. These new light also produce minimal heat and the light outpost I this is almost if not more than twice the ammount that VHOs and PCs produce. Plus it's cheaper!!!!

These lights are Godsent!

Now the catch... I've heard from my LFS, which is very reliable, that these fixtures and bulbs have a 50/50 faliure rate from the manufacture so I don't recommend buying online. Go to your LFS and test the light before purchasing.

[FragOutpost]

Sounds like a good deal.
Did you say the manufacturer is Current USA? I haven't heard of them before.
How do the actinics compare to VHO actinics?
What kind of ballast are you running them on? Workhorse 5 or 7?
I was looking around online for those now that you mention them and it seems like they come as a retorfit fixture, right? Is the whole fixture $21 or just the bulbs? I'll have to ask my lfs about them.
Thanks for the heads up.
Keep us updated on how they work out for you and how your corals respond, growth rates, etc.

[D12monkey]

$21 is for the whole fixture. Ballast and bulb. They can be ran inline with each other up to 10 fixtures on one power cord. Will provide reports further down the line. No more tons of wires to run into a power strip. They also make chillers and other lights. The orbit light is a current usa light. The prime chillers are current usa items. Here's the link to there website Current USA (http://www.current-usa.com/)

And As far as the actinics, they are a crisper blue, brings out more color than the VHOs I have.

[FragOutpost]

That is pretty cool how they can be daisy-chained together like that requiring only one power cord. Looks like a great buy. What wattage and length lamps did you get for $21? Does each one come with the short connecting cord to connect to the lamp next to it, or do you need to buy those separate?

[D12monkey]

I bought the 24 in fixtures to go over my 30 gal reef. They come with a short cord for zig-zagging the light and an inlight to butt them up against each other. They also provide with 2 different mounting systems and with anchors. Nothing else is needed to purchase seperately unless you wish to buy a different mounting brace.

[D12monkey]

Ohh and for wattage.... the ones I bought are 14 wat and they put out more light than my 75W VHOs and 65W PCs.

[FragOutpost]

Ok thanks. I am definetly going to ask my LFS about these. I have been looking to add a little bit more actinic light to my tank but hesitant to add another vho because of cost/heat/electricity consumption/etc. So this will work great if I can find one locally. I would like to get the 48" fixture. Thanks for the tip on these lights! :)

[D12monkey]

The actinics will provide quite a bit of extra blue.

[FragOutpost]

Great that is just what I need to balance out my 10K halides.
I'll let you know if I'm able to find them locally.

[marami]

Hello Guys... first of all I want to introduce myself... My name is Marco and I'm a new reefie guy from Mexico City and I was reading your post about th T5 Nova lights... I just got myself a couple of this... one 10000K and another actinic blue because I only wanted to make a FOWLR tank... but lately I'm begining to think about getting some softy corals, I have tried to search in the Internet what kind of corals I'll be able to mantain with this lighting setup (obviously I'm getting 2 more 10000K and one actinic), 3 10000K and 2 Actinics, and I tought maybe you can help me. The tank size is 39x16x19

Thanks and greetings.
Marco.:)

[D12monkey]

First off welcome.

What do you think of the lights? Aren't they bright... I've seen all leathers, acans, mushrooms, zoos, and a few other softies under this light. They are comprable to VHOs and PCs. SO pretty much any softy that can be kept in either will do fine with these.

[marami]

Thanks for your welcome... YES!! they are really bright... I can't compare them vs VHO because I don't own one of those... but I can't stare directly at them... it hurts my eyes!! :eek: I have just finished the cycling of my thank... and now I'm goign to shot for a couple of Clown Fishes... but what do you mean by Soft corals?? LPS and SPS can't be mantained with this light???

Thanks for you answer!!

[FragOutpost]

Welcome to Frag Outpost marami!

Most soft corals are able to adapt to almost any level of light, particularly lower light levels and still sustain good growth. I have seen nice SPS tanks lit only by T5's, but these tanks are usually a little on the shallow side and the canopy is packed full of T5's. One good aspect about T5's is that they are a smaller diameter bulb which allows for more bulbs to be able to fit above your tank. I would think that you should be able to sustain SPS corals in your tank with these bulbs, but I would keep the corals as close to the light source as you can.

Good luck with your tank, marami. Please post some photos sometime.

[marami]

Thanks for the reply FragOutpost, in fact the reasons I don't want to use the MH are 2:

The generate a lot more heat than th T5
They look horrible!!
Thanks for the input and I'll be posting some pics later... In what part can I do this???

Thanks!! :)

[FragOutpost]

Yeah the halides do put out some heat, that's for sure.



In what part can I do this???


What do you mean, post photos?
Just use the "manage attachments" button below the textarea input field and you can upload up to 5 images at a time.

[D12monkey]

They look horrible!!




:rolleyes: I guess that's all a matter of opinion

[FragOutpost]

I was surprised to see that my LFS stocks the Nova retrofits and bulbs so I purchased a 28 watt 48" retrofit with a 460nm bulb. So far I am pleased with the fixture. It doesn't put out very much heat at all compared to VHO's.

[D12monkey]

That shield drowns out a lot of the light. Take it off and use the exposed bulb adapter over the bulb sockets. That'll increase the light output quite a bit.

[D12monkey]

Ohh and a quick update on my lights. I've accidentally dropped my lights into my tank 3 times already and rinsed them with fresh water and let them dry and have not had the bulb nor the fixture burn out on me. Nice feature. :D

[FragOutpost]

Thanks for the tip. I have removed the shield and installed the end covers instead. Glad to hear that your lights are still working after being dropped in the water. I might get another fixture sometime if this one holds up well.

[D12monkey]

Got more light output didn't you?

[FragOutpost]

Yep. It was hard to tell with the halides on but after they shut off you could really see the difference.

[D12monkey]

That's What I thought untill bought a second actinic fixture. Then I saw the difference with the metal halide on. Over the reef tank with the new light I now have 4 75w actinic VHO, 3 10000k T5s, 3 actinic T5, and the metal halide. I will be removing the VHOs as of this weekend.

[FragOutpost]

Over the reef tank with the new light I now have 4 75w actinic VHO, 3 10000k T5s, 3 actinic T5, and the metal halide.
Hope you have some sunglasses for viewing your tank! :D

[D12monkey]

Hope you have some sunglasses for viewing your tank! :D


The reason for the 1/3 horsepower chiller on a 29 gal tank. LOL