need opinions on lighting please!!!!

[ithorian_r]

i really need some advice...i want to upgrade my lighting for my aquarium. i have narrowed it down to 2 choices. but first let me give you my tank and setup...i have a 29g with regular flourescent lighting. i was wanting to eventually have enough lighting for possibly some corals and anemones. my 2 choices are these...
Coralife Aqualight Power Compact 30in with
1 -10000 K daylight 65 watts
1 - true actinic 65 watts
2 - 3/4 watt blue moonlight
2 cooling fans
3 power switches
3 power cord plugins
Dual Satellite Power Compact 30in. with
1 - dual daylight 65 watts (6700/10000 K)
1 - dual actinic 65 watts (420/460 nm)
1 - 1 watt white moonlight
1 - cooling fan
dont know on the # of power switches/pugins
either choice leaves me with the same amount of light. but would it be better to get the Coralife light that has two fans? does it make a difference. also, does suspending the light over the tank compared to mounting the light to the aquarium have a difference? i really would like some advice. thanks

 

[coopersx]

I do not think it matters that one has 2 fans unless the 2 fan model runs hotter. That concerns me. They both appear to be essentially the same unit and I would go with the one that runs cooler. I have heard good things about the Current USA products. I have the Current USA Orbit and will probaly upgrade in the future to their Orbit Extreme or a DYI lighting scheme for my setup when I need it. I have a 54 Gallon corner tank which limits my lighting choice because of the lack of space. The Satelite should be placed on top of a glass canopy in case you did not know this. If not you will have to rig a way to hang it thus losing light intensity per inverse sqaure law. It may come with legs but I would be afraid of the potential for it to fall in the tank. Hanging it may not matter much because I feel both lights are close to ideal for this size tank given their price and you can always place things higher up on the rock if necessary. I like the Current USA products over Coralife. They have good quality build and nice reflective inserts. I think the Satelite has two seperate power cords. Thats all you really need. One for the Daylight/Blue Actinic and one for the moonlight. You can plug these 2 chords into timers if you like. The daylight and Blue Actinic do have seperate on/off switches. What you will lose out on by not having 3 power cords is the ability to place the Daylight and Blue Actinic on seperate timers. I could be wrong about this...maybe the second Satelite power cord is not for the moonlight.
The Current USA comes standard with their dual spectrum bulbs. That is a nice feature but you can always switch to a 65 watt 10,000 K daylight when you go to replace them. Same goes for the Coralite. I would also check the availabilty and replacement cost for the bulbs. They both may have different pin configuartions. So if one replacemet bulb costs significantly more to replace...That may help to influence your choice.
Take care, Wayne

 

[ithorian_r]

thanks for the info. i would like the ability to control the actinic and daylights bulbs seperately but its not the most important factor in my decision making. also, this gives me somewhere around 4.5 wpg and will that be enough to support most anemones? thanks

 

[coopersx]

Both lights may have seperate power cords for both the Daylight and Actinic bulbs...I am unsure. One of those cords may be for the Moonlight. As far as accepatble lighting I think these lights will support anything you put in your tank. If not at the bottom certainly moving them up to the top will suffice. I believe higher lighting can cause ceratain invertabrates to thrive and grow faster. Some may adapt to lower lights conditions growing slower and at times changing color. I think you have a good starting point and should not have a problem by moving things higher in the tank if necessary. I do not have experience with invertabrates but I am sure people have sucessfully used system lighting less then this for invertabrates that thrive on high lighting. Some invertabrates adapt whereas others may die. Read up on what you decide to put in your tank before purchasing. There are other more important things to survival other then *optimal* lighting. *Consistant* Water quality, protein skimming, proper test kits, supplementing trace elements, invertabrate sensitives, high circulation vs. low circulation depending on species, feeding, incompatabilities, fish that may bump corals keeping them from opening, etc. are just some of the important aspects other then lighting to consider.
Take care, Wayne