I've been bitten - who knew!!! :)

[AnotherLousy1]

Hello everyone, so after having set up a BC29 with such success and to have it running for about 6 months, I have discovered, it's time for a larger tank. Luckily, I have such tank, a 58 gallon Oceanic which is a freshwater tank. OK, after yesterday and moving all my fish to the 85 gallon, it's now starting the process of becoming salt. <heh> YES, I HAVE THE BUG!!!!

As a freshwater tank, it has never had copper added or really any sort of treatment, as I don't really like using those products. The only thing I've ever done for treatment is added a bit of aquarium salt, so I think I'm safe with the silicon in going salt.

I think I have an idea for a sump and skimmer, and I'm going to talk with my LFS who has been keeping and maintaining reef tanks for over 20 years, if they will drill my tank so it will be nice and clean looking (terrified to do that part myself - HA!)

Now my next thing to purchase is lighting ... there are so many choices, it's so confusing. Basically, I love keeping such things as zooanthids, ricordeas, mushrooms and up until yesterday, I had been keeping all my goodies in my BC29 under the 72 watts without issue, finally yesterday, I put together the upgrade to go to 144 watts, so if I ever want to keep anything with higher light, I always have my smaller tank (as I plan to move my stuff from the BC29 to the 58 gallon) Anyway, back to the topic, what would everyone recommend, I've looked at T5, MH, compact florescent, etc, but am just not sure what to go with.

Any assistance would be great. The tank size is 36" long X 18" deep X 21" tall

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Good luck on your upgrade. Dont have much to add or change but I would check into T5, with compact actinics.. MH are usually my favorite but it might be to much for that size tank.

 

[kimoy]

i like the growth i saw in T5's but love the shimmer of MH's. there are plus and minusses on these two lights. MH are hot but great shimmer, T5's are cool but the shimmer is not as great as MH. cost wise they are the almost the same upfront but in the long run T5's are cheaper. why? because T5 bulbs are cheaper to replace and lasts longer. this is only my own observation, do some research and the do another research and some more research. i started with PC then upgraded to MH/PC combo and now i have a MH/T5 combo. choice wisely and you'll be happy.

 

[lcstorc]

If you are not going to get anything terribly light demanding then I would go with T5. MH are nice and pretty but they are HOT. They also use lots of power so harder on the electric bill and bulbs are expensive.
I recently got my first T5 lights for a small tank I set up and I love them. The color is great and I have no heat issues at all with that tank.

 

[AnotherLousy1]

Not to mention the price is right for the T5s eh? I was just looking at the Nova Extreme, 36" 4x39 watts for $189 compared to the $450 - $650 range for the CF and MHs. I also calculated it out with what I had at the 72 watts in my BC29 equaled, 2.48 WPG whereas with the 58 gall going with the T5 Nova listed above, it calculates to 2.68 WPG, so there will be actually a little more light in the 58 than was in the BC29. The height difference between the two tanks actually are only 1/2 inch different, so that's not bad at all.

Thanks for the input so far, LYNN, if you don't mind me asking, what T5 light setup did you go with, I've seen the Novas and heard a few good things about them, but was curious about other brands as well.

 

[redspot321]

I have 2 tek lights T5, these are amazing fixtures I can grow anything in my75.

 

[lcstorc]

I have the Nova Extreme as well. So far it has been great but I have only had it like a month so don't go by me on that part. The one thing that people don't like about the Nova is that it has a single reflector for multiple bulbs. Individual reflectors give more light with the same bulb.
Also don't go by the WPG thing. The depth of the tank makes a far bigger difference than the number of gallons. A short wide tank would be better off with several smaller bulbs where as a deep narrow tank would want one very strong bulb to get the same light penetration to things on the bottom of the tank.
Then you throw in things like overdriven ballasts and special reflectors and things get really challenging.

 

[Jake]

I have the Nova Extreme product on my 75G and it has individual reflectors for each of the 4 bulbs (2+2). It is awesome, bright, good color, but I have not used any other type light so I can't offer a comparison. I selected based on good feedback from others and availibility at the LFS. Their tanks that had these same lights were less than 6 months old and every rock was completely covered in purple coraline. I know there are other factors but sold me.