deep blue solar extreme T5 lighting

kniquy

Member
Hi all - I was wondering if anyone has heard of or has had experience with the Deep blue solar extreme T5 lighting. I am searching around to upgrade to a lower heat output (have 2-250W MH - horrible in the summer!!). I have a 75g and want to be able to keep any and all types of corals. The unit that i am looking at is a 48" -which sounds like it can be mounted into my existing canopy. It comes with 2x 54w actinic, 2x54W 10K and 8 LED. It sounds like it is programable too. The price that i have found is $289.99 - so it seems pretty cheap.
Please tell me the good, the bad and the ugly of this unit. If you have any other suggestions let me know
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by kniquy http:///t/393436/deep-blue-solar-extreme-t5-lighting#post_3500000
Hi all - I was wondering if anyone has heard of or has had experience with the Deep blue solar extreme T5 lighting. I am searching around to upgrade to a lower heat output (have 2-250W MH - horrible in the summer!!). I have a 75g and want to be able to keep any and all types of corals. The unit that i am looking at is a 48" -which sounds like it can be mounted into my existing canopy. It comes with 2x 54w actinic, 2x54W 10K and 8 LED. It sounds like it is programable too. The price that i have found is $289.99 - so it seems pretty cheap.
Please tell me the good, the bad and the ugly of this unit. If you have any other suggestions let me know
If you already have a canopy, I highly recommend installing a T5HO retrofit kit. The bulbs that come in those standard manufacturer units are half of the PAR value of what a decent bulb is. Your really just paying for the reflectors, ballast and the plastic when it comes to a fixture.
You can most likely find some used icecap T5 reflectors for pretty cheap.. about $10 each and use some Mothers metal polish to polish them up again - since they are used. You can buy a workhorse 7 ballast for about $40 and some end caps and standoffs for another $30. The most expensive thing would be the bulbs at about $20 each... (x4 = $80 + $20 fragile shipping fee) But, since you are going to buy a fixture with those puny little bulbs you will have to replace them anyway and be out even more money than building your own retrofit into your canopy.
You can also buy another workhorse ballast that will support up to two 54w bulbs and two more reflectors so that you can have a dusk/dawn effect if you put it on a longer timer. Typically, if you are going to have the individual reflectors over a 75g, you can only fit in about six bulbs - which is plenty of light for a 75g, but if you want you could probably go up to 8 bulbs if you cut four icecap reflectors in half to make eight. :D
Anyways, just throwing some ideas out there. If you still like the idea of a fixture, I would look at Pet Mountain - they have pretty good deals on T5HO fixture. But, like I said, you would be getting a better quality and fully upgradable unit if you build it yourself. LEDs can be added in as needed... and so can moon lights.
 

vdub99aml

New Member
I've had the 36" 4 bulb solar extreme fixture for over a year now. Snake is right, the bulbs that come with the fixture are disappointing- 2 10k and 2 420 bulbs. I was never happy with the color of the bulbs, so I started experimenting with different bulbs. I'm currently using 1 454 bulb, 1 460 bulb, and 2 UVL indigo sun bulbs with a Current Truelumen actinic LED strip. The LED lunar lights in the fixture are ok. They are always on. 1 LED is very dim compared to the other LED's. I've been using the Coralife 2x1W lunar aqualight fixture that gives off much better light/color than the solar extreme lunars. The built in timer is awesome and eliminates 3 timers plugged into your powerstrip. Programming the light is somewhat confusing and takes some practice. I am getting awesome growth out of all my corals... montipora digi blue, orange, and green, monti cap, duncans, multiple diff. acans, zoas, mushrooms, orange plate, and 3 diff. hammers.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I love the UVL 454's and the UVL Aquasuns and Indigo's myself. It brings out a lot of colors that I normally don't see with these blue and white LEDs and even some of the blue and white standard T5s.
 

vdub99aml

New Member
I am pretty impressed with the UVL bulbs. Snake you are right about the indigo's. They really make bring out colors that are not normally seen with just blue white. I noticed especially on my fish that their colors really "pop" out. The white and orange on the clownfish are really bright. I think I'm going to get another 454 when I replace the 460 bulb in a few months
 
Top