Need advice! Which T5 lighting should i get?

[vexrsx05]

I have a 72: bow tank with 100lbs of rock and some coral! I want to start investing in soft and hard corals!
I currently have a coralife 54x4 power compact light and want to upgrade..ive been looking at these 2 but which one do you think will get the job done??
http://www.aquadirect.com/store/prod...cat=781&page=1 ----heres the 8bulb system
http://www.aquadirect.com/store/prod...cat=930&page=1 ---heres he 6 bulb system
whats your opinions? Is it worth $100 more for the bigger light?

 

[moprint]

Get the six bulb fixture. It has a better reflector design then the 8 bulb system. I own the same fixture and like it a lot. petmountain.com has it for $336 with free shipping. If you read the descirptions the Nova Extreme Pro says individual reflectors, where the regular Extreme says a parabolic reflector. I upgraded from the same power compact fixture and wow what a difference you will not be disappointed.

 

[nycbob]

yes get the 6x54w fixture. the 8x54 wont fit over ur 72 bowfront.

 

[spiderwoman]

Please don't post links...

 

[nietzsche]

go with the extreme pro since it has individual reflectors. and were not mods so were not going to tell you not to post links

 

[vexrsx05]

ok but if i go with the 6x54 light is this an upgrade from what i have now??? Currently i have the compact lights 4x54.. i dont want to dish out almost 400 for a slightly upgrade

 

[nietzsche]

t5ho with individual reflectors is a lot better than those with not. from what i heard, the nova extreme t5ho with individual reflectors is just as good as the Tek fixture. if you want better than those, you can go with Aquaticnics or the ATI fixture, but itll cost you more money

 

[vexrsx05]

so with this light can i get hard corals such as clams?

 

[nycbob]

yes. but its not just about light. u gotta hv the right water parameters. this pic is mine with nova pro 6x54w over a 72 bowfront.

even an anemone if u want.

 

[vexrsx05]

wow, very impressive pics, how long did it take for the corals to get that big!!!!!
See i have a bubbletip anenome (got him like 6 months ago) and all he does is chill on top of tank closer to the light! Hes not expanded or anything!!! He looks shrivled up! Im guessing my current lights arent enough huh?

 

[vexrsx05]

hey MOPRINT do you have any pics of your tank?

 

[nycbob]

with the right light and setup, corals can grow pretty fast. the bta tripled in size in 8 months. i got rid of it bc it was too BIG. most of the sps frags was picked up the last 2-3 months. the staghorns was picked up back in october. it grew from 2 to 6 inches already.

 

[vexrsx05]

here let me tak a pic of my tank and ill show ya...i want this stuff to triple its size! It seems like our polyps arent accumulating for some reason...

 

[nycbob]

listing ur water parameters would help too.

 

[vexrsx05]

water parameters? What you mean? Sorry im kinda a nooby with this! My fiance is the one who knows all about aquariums and water conditions

 

[nycbob]

like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and calcium.

 

[vexrsx05]

oooo we just tested our waters and everything was A-OK

....i just think our lights are kinda weak since they are just power compacts.....

 

[alexa11]

your tank is amazing!

 

[stumpyfish]

nycbob, that......... is truly gorgeous

 

[nycbob]

thanx a lot. i purchased another another 3 sps frags today, so i will update my pic later on in the week. i am getting rid of the clove corals on the upper left, bc its growing like mad. anyone in nyc interested?