coral life t5-ho fixture

hey guys, i saw this fixture on ebay... would this thing be worth it for the price? 36" 78W T5 HO Aquarium Light German Reflector Hood 2X39W Lamp Fixture Coral Reef | eBay

sorry, coral reef not coral life

 

Ye cool... bumping this. Some help would be appreciated, guys.

 

What are you gonna keep in your tank? I'm a big T5 fan but I honestly wouldn't use anything less than a quad fixture. Avoid super cheap fixtures, trust me.

 

I'm thinking of getting the 40 gallon and keeping sps, as my current 10 gallon is all lps and softies... so, would this fixture be better?

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

 

That's another cheap fixture, avoid it. Your looking at a good 300 dollars for a quality T5 fixture with good reflectors, ballasts and hardware. Number of bulbs doesn't matter if it doesn't penetrate the tank. It would be good for a FOWLER but if your gonna keep corals especially SPS and want them to thrive and grow, don't skimp on lighting. If you go cheap then you'll be rewarded with loss and frustration.

 

I would suggest a 4 bulb fixture for the 40 and suggest hanging it about 30" above the sand. Get good bulbs like ATI and Geisemann.

 

what's wrong with the fixture, exactly? and for $300, wouldn't i be better off getting an LED fixture for the same price (even putting a little more money on it)?

 

I'm not a believer in led lighting. 300 is cheap for lighting with a sps tank.

 

idk, from my experience LED's work great, they're working wonders on my lps and softies.... but again, anything specifically wrong with that 4 bulb fixture I posted? it produces a total of 156 watts, so i don't see the problem.

 

I think if the fixture has reflectors and a ballast to run four bulbs, I don't see the problem either. Oh, and you need a cooling fan as part of it too. If you use quality bulbs (ATI/Geismann) then I think you should be ok IMO. I can't speak to the specific ones you posted. I do think individual reflectors are nicer but I have nothing scientific to back that up. HTH.