help with lighting

[jthomas0385]

I have a 55 gallon 48" long tank. I need to upgrade my lighting so I can buy anemones and corals. I was thinking a Nova Extreme T-5 lighting. The light comes with 4, 54 watt T-5 bulbs for a total of 216 watts. The lighting also comes with a parabolic reflector. Would this quality of light be good enough for anemones and soft corals?? Thanks for the help!

 

[jrthomas40]

some softies i say yes anemones i give a negative...but some people may have had some luck...maybe someone else will have to chime in

 

[perfectdark]

IMO yes you will be able to keep softies, lps, clams, and possibly some sps. If they are the nova extreme pro's they have true individual parabolic reflectors. If they are the new sundials then its an individually contoured single reflector. Still a lot better than a single reflector over all the bulbs. But not as intense as the pros. IMO.

 

[jthomas0385]

The nova extreme pro is soooo expensive.. anything thats as good but cheaper?? is it possible to have to much lighting??

 

[travis89]

Originally Posted by JThomas0385
The nova extreme pro is soooo expensive.. anything thats as good but cheaper?? is it possible to have to much lighting??
Thats probably the cheapest you will find a decent T5 setup i think, you could check the teks out but they're probably more.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by JThomas0385
The nova extreme pro is soooo expensive.. anything thats as good but cheaper?? is it possible to have to much lighting??

You will still be able to keep fairly high light corals with the sundials... IMO. You may need to place somethings higher on your LR than others but you will definatly have more of a selection.

 

[lecithin]

well then... I think that means I need to get the pro, I've been debating the two for a few weeks. I have a nova extreme 2 bulb T5HO as well...