lighting question!!

ohiorn67

ohiorn67

Member
new to this fun hobby. My lfs recommended the coralife 260w...has flourescent and actinic plus 4 moon bulbs. I have a 90 gallon tank set up. He says plenty of light for soft corals and such, is this true? Can you actually buy stronger bulbs that fit into this setup in theh longrun instead of having to buy another hood unit? thanks!!
 
jobob

jobob

Member
well first u will have to buy a new light if u wanna upgrade u can buy a higher watt bulb and use it.2nd they dont make a higher watt pc to fit that. and 3 its only 2.8 watts per gallon i would think of something else. and look online, its more than likely cheaper online with shipping than buyin from lfs. and 4th a 90 gal is a deep tank so i would consider a canopy that u can retro fit power compacts or vhos u can fit more than 4 pc in there. or metal hal. lighting. i have the kinda the same light on my 55, well 240watts pc and your tank is almost double, so if you only want to keep softy and lps go with power compacts or vho's. u can keep corals with that light, but u cant upgrade it later so i would just upgrade now and save urself money in the long run!
 
ohiorn67

ohiorn67

Member
WOW, NOT SURE WHAT TO DO, IT SEEMS IF YOU STEP UP FROM THIS YOU PAY DOUBLE FOR ANYTHING ELSE. I am so new at this that I expect to only want a few soft coral at first for a while and some fish....do you think I will be ok just for a while with this 260W? I am thinking I can add to it later if I need but the expense is a killer..I bought the lighting at lfs for 369.00 and taking it back because I found it for 250 online shipped, but when I go up in lighting all others seem to start even online at about 500.00...got any good sites for cheaper lighting?
 
jobob

jobob

Member
u can always add on . lighting is one of the most expensive thing in a reef. and the most important. if u wanna cheap light go to auction site and look around. i found mine for 100 bucks. jebo makes a cheap on but some people say they suck and break, others like them and had no problems like me. but their is a cheap light called odessa or something like that. i hear its not bad. u dont need moon lights there only for show unless their on a timer with the moon. and power compacts dont get that hot so no need for fan i have them and dont use them!
 
sammiefish

sammiefish

Member
i used the coralife fixture you are talking about. It is a nice fixture and will support pretty much any soft coral... I even had great growth of a Montipora caporcornis with this light.
No you cant just put bigger bulbs in it...
If you think you might upgrade do it right away if you can... otherwise you lose money on the upgrade as you wont get the money back out of the first fixture.
yes you could add a second fixture if you needed to...
yeah, 370 is too much to pay for that fixture... you can get the one without the moonlights for less than 200 shipped... and the one with moonlights i think for about 230...
I think it is an excellent fixture for the price... nicely made, and will do the job that you want done.
if you really want the same fixture Coralife makes a 4x96W fixture... but almost $400 but again it has 4 96Wbulbs instead of 4 65W bulbs
 
ohiorn67

ohiorn67

Member
could you tell me where you found those lights for the 4 96w for under 400.00 thanks so much, but probably will stick with the 260w which I ordered for 240, I figured I am new and will go slow.
thanks!
 
sammiefish

sammiefish

Member
well... i just searched and found a 48" 4x96W coralife aqualite but it was 500... it wasnt (a popular auction site) so maybe you could find it cheaper there...
 
jobob

jobob

Member
ok i found one for u 6x55watt 325.00 not bad. i just put on my old 2x65 on my tank and wow i didnt know it would make that much of a difference, till i put it on.now i got 2x55 and 4x65. so i think this would be a good first light! or look for odyessea. if u want cheaper. o the light is at pet supply liquidator.
 
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