Going to buy new lighting.....need advise.

I have a few questions. I am going to be in the market for a new lighting system here in a month. I am interested in T5s. My tank is 18" wide. What I wanted was the 8x54W Nova Extreme Pro. Only thing is, it is not made. Only the Nova Extreme makes the 8x54W and I want the individual reflectors. NEP makes a 6x54W. I can go Tek 8x54W. However, it is 20" wide. That leaves 2 inches overhang.

The Tek does not have lunar lights, so the overhang would be lamps.

If the lights overhang, then I might as well get the 6x54W, and that will not satisfy my lighting requirements for a 90g tank (I think......I need advise on that one). I do want to do clams and other high end corals. I do not want to be limited. If I am going to spend several hundred dollars on a fixture, I am going to do it right.

So if the T5s will not do, then MHs are my only choice. I would presume that I would do 2x250W and 2x54W T5 actinics.

So..........two main questions.

1.) Please evaluate my T5 situation and advise
2.) If MH are going to be my choice, what is a good (great) brand to get? I want good quality ballasts, good quality lighting, good quality everything. And I need to know what to use RE: Watts for my tank. Dimensions are 48X18X24 (L x W x H).

Thanks guys and gals. This is a big one for me.......so I don't want to blow it.

Peace.......John.

 

Have you tried searching like e-bay or google for the original T5's you wanted? You might be able to find some old stock and/or lightly used.

 

I am not sure the NEPs ever came that way. I was looking at Teks. When I was looking at the Teks, I had my 75g which was 19" in width. I figured that one inch was no big deal. But two inches is a lot. So I fear that I am going to be limited. The only reason the NEPs interest me over the Teks are the fact that the lights are included. With the Teks they are not.

 

You could always hang the light fixture from the ceiling. I noticed something on your width of your tank. What are the measurements of your tank? Luna

 

im using the tek t5 8x54, think of it this way, you'll have end to end side to side lights, lunar's i dont think have ever been proven to benefit anything except just being able to see your stuff at night, but my lights are pretty much always on when i'm up
and the way the tek is made, all 8 of the lights will be over the water, it's 20" wide but the outside lights aren't right on the edges, their about 3/4" in from there as the fixture isnt square, it's kind of diamond shaped out the outside

at least my 6x39 is, assuming the 8x54 is also since mine is on the way here from AAT I haven't actually seen it yet lol

and Luna, I think he has the same tank I'm setting up, 48.5" x 18.5" x 25" weighs about 175# empty

Oh yeah, for bulbs, add roughly $200 after shipping, go with 8x UVL 4 of the super acintics and 4 of the white acintics

 

48x18x24 (LxWxH)

 

I just brought up the tek 8x54 T5's and its listed as 19" wide, not 20"?

 

Oh, I misunderstood the thread. I thought you said that your tank was 20" wide. My bad. Luna

 

the teks are bright. You may not need that much. But for the 90 which is taller than the 75 gal I have, you may want individual reflectors. I have the nova extreme 4 bulb and the 2 bulb. 6 54 watt bulbs and clams do fine and sps grow like crazy. I would either get the 8 54 watt nova or a tek 6 bulb fixture.

 

May i chime in and ask a question. Which is better the 6 x 54 Nova extreme pro with individual reflectors or the 8 x 54 Nova extreme with out the individual reflectors?