Corallife or Nova Extreme ????

[zeroc0o0l]

I have a 55 gallon there is about 40 lbs of live rock and 2 clown fish in there now. Im tryin to decide what kind of light to get. I dont want to get into

[hr]
reef just basic fish and mabye anemones / soft coral. Im lookin at the Coralife Lunar Aqualights Compact Fluorescent Strip(48" 216 watts4-54 watt 4 lunar lights ) or Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures w/Lunar Lights (48" 216 watts/4-54 watt). I would like to stay within uder 250 range. I think I can get the Corallife shipped for close to that. The Nova extreme is a little cheaper. Both seem to have internal ballast. Any comments or reviews of these lights?
Thanks all in advance.

 

[b-baby80]

I've heard really good things about the Nova Extreme.Thats what i'm ordering next month for our 55 gallon.I can get them $199 and $13 shipping.Which is good i think.

 

[dragonzim]

Go with the T5's over the Power Compacts. You'd be better off with a fixture that has individual reflectors for each bulb but for just fish and soft corals, the Nova will be fine

 

[sturner]

I upgrated from coralife PC's to the Nova and I LOVE the Nova! It's so much brighter, and the moon lights are nice. I'm keeping shrooms, GSP, zoas, ricordia, along with two small patches of unidentified sps hitchhikers which are growing!

 

[matt819]

Might as well spend a few extra dollars if you're already spending 200 and get a sunlight supply fixture that's individually reflected. Then you can keep anything you want...

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by Matt819
Might as well spend a few extra dollars if you're already spending 200 and get a sunlight supply fixture that's individually reflected. Then you can keep anything you want...

 

[zeroc0o0l]

If it was only a few xtra dollars I would go for it.. But from the numbers that I have seen we are talking almost double ????????? Suggestions?

 

[matt819]

Double is ridiculous, they're like 280 on the bay with free S&H

 

[ibew]

Originally Posted by Matt819
Double is ridiculous, they're like 280 on the bay with free S&H
yeah with no lamps no legs no fans and no lens cover
tek 48inch 4 lamp 280
4-t5 lamps roughly 80 (for ati)
tek legs 50
fans 5 to 10 bucks hardware store
lens cover 20 bucks
so when its said and done it is double what a nova is I own both

 

[ibew]

you need to read alittle more carefully on what it comes with good thing you didn't buy one you would be mad as xxxx when it came

 

[matt819]

Ok, so I didn't actually read through the entire listing...I already have an ice cap retro (I wasn't planning on buying one, lol) The fixtures are 280...the lamps are 15 bucks a piece with it (giesemann, just to be completely thorough). You shouldn't really need the legs and all that. I was just saying, if you're already blowin a couple hundred, what's a little more for quality. I made the mistake of buyin cheapo t5s the first time around, you might as well just get power compacts if you wanna go cheap...same thing! I just hate to see someone blow their dough on crap...you could get 260w pcs for dirt cheap with the same effects basically. So for some people... "said and done" does not have to be double what a nova is, unless you need every friggin bell and whistle that comes with it...especially if you shop around.

 

[ibew]

I owned the coralife 260 watt PC fixture was my first. The nova blows it out of the water very big difference I wouldn't call the nova a cheapo. Also T5s are superior to PCs regardless of individual refectors when compared to halides T5s need to compete with individual reflectors and overpowered to get the same par or maybe better par depending on lamps selection. But I do agree about blowing your money or crap I have wasted alot

. For this persons tank this fixture is a good choice I run one on one of my 55gal and you can keep just about anything I have tried so far for the simply fact that the tank is only 18inches tall