t-5 unit input?

[msbdiving]

Looking at this for my 40g. Any input? Is it crap? I was thinking about the nova extreme pro alos if they do it in a 30".

 

[Octoman]

What would you like to keep? T5's are great for Softies, LPS, some SPS if you have enough bulbs with good reflectors.

The nova extreme pro comes in a 24 and 36" model. I don't know of any that come in a 30", maybe someone else will chime in...

 

[lcstorc]

What is the one you are looking at? Did I miss something?

 

[msbdiving]

Oops. Forgot the link.
30" SOLAR T5 AQUARIUM LIGHT HOOD & FREE LEGS 6 X 24 W - eBay (item 230236312767 end time Jun-25-08 05:40:11 PDT)

The light should be plenty for clams and sps from what I understand. Wondering about the unit. My first experience going with t-5's.

 

[Octoman]

I have no idea about the quality of that unit. 24W bulbs are 24" long, so I'm guessing the other side of the fixture has 4-5 inches of no light. They don't show it, so I'd be suspicious of that. They also don't mention what types of bulbs, could be low quality bulbs...

 

[Octoman]

That is a Catalina Aquarium fixture, but I still don't know anything about the quality.

Catalina Aquarium Solar T5

 

[lcstorc]

How deep is the tank and how good are the reflectors? Two things that make a big difference about having a clam or sps.

 

[mempho reefer]

It's an ok fixture. It needs the fan option to help cool the unit. On the plus side it has individual reflectors which make a big difference. The bulbs will likely need to be replaced with a better quality and more variance than just 3 10,000k and 3 actinics. I use a 4 bulb mix of ATI bulbs in my Nova Exteme. BTW, the Nova Extreme Pro only comes in 36", 48" and 72". The only advantage of the Pro over the regular Nova Extreme is the optimized fans and the contoured reflector.

 

[Octoman]

Here's a review of a 48" catalina fixture...

Replacing my hood (again)… **LOTS OF PICS** - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium & Reef Forum

If it has snake endcaps like that one does, then you could center the 24" bulbs.

 

[prow]

the catalina is ok, just ok. it does have individual reflectors but they are contoured, not the best. what your looking for is parabolic reflectors, like sunlight supplies TEK reflectors or icecaps SLR reflectors. depending on how high the tank is and what bulbs you can fit, watt wise(54 watts punch more than 39watters and 39w more than 24w) meaning, a tank comparison;
24x19x18(35gal) using 6x24w T5= 144w or 4.1w/gal
36x19x18(55gal) using 6x39w T5= 234w or 4.2w/gal

both tanks are 19" tall. both lighting setups give about the same watts per gallon. but the 39watters will punch through the water more and the corals on the bottom will get more light vs the corals under the 24watters even though the watts per gallon are the same. hope you can see what i mean on the bulb watts and though the same watts/gal on used the 39w bulbs will produce more lighting(PAR) at the depth.

also, again depending on how tall the tank is, for SPS and clams you may need to overdrive the bulbs, it give about a 20-30% increase in lighting. the catalina and novas are good for many corals, most LPS and some SPS. if your going to be keeping clams and sps i would get a sunlight supply fixture or GE fixture, something with parabolic reflectors for sure and overdrive that bubls with a icecap 660 ballast. for LPS the catalina should be fine. JMO