need some lighting help

[Beach Girl]

I read the sticky about lighting but I still need some help.

I am setting up a 75E tank and I want to go with HO bulbs. I don't have $500 bucks to drop for the fixture alone so can anyone make any recommendations? My LFS said I need a minimum of 6 bulbs but when I looked it up most 48" fixtures only hold 4. I want to keep some basic corals zoas, star polyps etc. I would maybe also like some SPS if I can down the road when I have more confidence I won't murder anything. I understand that everything in this hobby costs and arm and a leg but I really am not willing to sell my first born to get a light fixture!

I have done lots of research but it is over my head I think. Can anyone point out a decent fixture and tell me how many watts I really need for my tank?

Thanks

 

[jjmoneyman]

I use a Current Nova Extreme 48" that holds 6 T5 bulbs. I bought the unit a few months back and it was about $360 new. I have zoas, rics, and even sps doing well under this light on my 55 gal. I'll actually be selling mine in a couple of months since I'm upgrading tanks, but I do think this is a good unit and my corals have done well under it.

 

[Eric]

You can also check out Catalina T5's they are fair priced.

 

[imsobored152]

catalinas pricing isnt bad, until you add on $50 shipping, $10 legs, and if it one without a splash shield, then extra $$ for that.

 

[cheeks69]

If you plan to build/buy a canopy you can go with a retrofit kit that would be considerably cheaper than a hood/fixture.

 

[Fishwhiz]

You could start off with two dual aquatic life fixtures linked together. When you save the extra 130 dollars and you think you need two more bulbs, you can add a third fixture and it won't look cheesy.
Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures

 

[Beach Girl]

What do you all think of the "reef capable" LED light from Marineland? Fosters and Smith have them and they are fairly reasonable. If not I will take fishwhiz's advise I think and go with the Aquaticlife T5 dual light fixture.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Unfortunately, if you think an LED fixture is a reasonable price, it's usually no good. The idea that LEDs can match the output of MH and T5s is old news, and many manufacturers are trying to take advantage of that by producing lower power LED units that people will think are as powerful as the high end units. Many manufacturers are taking advantage of the fact that most hobbyists don't know how to suss out a good LED unit from a bad one, and there's the grave misconception that all LEDs are created equal. After all, MH is MH, T5 is T5 and so on, so why should LEDs be any different? They're a different animal all together, though. The math just doesn't add up. Better LEDs and more powerful drivers cost more, and you can't get a fixture that's more powerful than MH and most T5 setups for less than the fixtures its competing against. LEDs operate on the principle that you pay lots for the high tech and get a low consumption, high intensity light in return. You will probably need about a grand to properly outfit a 75 gallon tank with what I would consider to be "Reef Capable" LEDs.

There's nothing wrong with the Marineland fixtures, but you're going to be getting the output of PCs at best. I would personally not put them over a 75g tank.

 

[TrueReef]

The Marineland LED's aren't nearly powerful enough for that tank. You would either need to go with a better LED fixture or T5s, like you said.