Help choosing lighting for my 55 gallon

I don't understand how the 8 bulb catalina is only 12inches wide. The bulbs must be almost touching eachother. I just upgraded from a 6 bulb retro to a used 4 bulb ATI powermodule for my 72g and the difference is pretty insane. I got lucky and bought a local reefers old setup for cheap. My problem with the catalina's is the bulbs are way too close to get the full life out of them and they come with catalina bulbs! If you were to buy an 8 bulb fixture, which only comes with catalina bulbs, you would have to spend 180 on getting decent bulbs! I've seen PAR levels on the catalinas and they aren't even close to ATI bulbs. If your on a budget, get a 4 bulb retro with ATI bulbs. Keep your eye out for used TEKs too. Lots of people are selling their T5s to experiment with LED these days.

 

I agree, I had a TEK 6-bulb and the width of the bulbs and reflectors was exact to my 55g 12" (minus the back and front overhangs). That's why I asked about the reflectors, they have to be very small to get 8-bulbs in that space. Similar to the problem with the OceanMedic fixtures that have lots of bulbs in small areas. The output and heat will def adversly effect performance of the bulbs. Def also would have to spend to replace the bulbs which drives cost up again.

IMO ATI Sunpower 4-bulb with ATI or Geiss bulbs would be a great option for best fit, cost, output, & performance: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...nPower_T5_High-Output_Fixture_w!_Bulbs_by_ATI

For bulbs I would do this combo (front to back):
ATI Blue +
ATI Purple
ATI Blue +
ATI AquaBlue Special

If you want a whiter look you could replace the Purple with another AquaBlue Special.

That's my final answer if it's within your budget and you can hang the fixture

 

Keep checking craigslist and your local reef formum if applicable. I see check TEK fixtures all the time on CL. Nice bulb combo MoJoe! Thats my exact setup!

 

I have an Aquaticlife w/moonlights and timer/4bulbs. It's great. One wire for the system. you dont hear it. and it's not really hot. I have a 54g corner. I think i paid 200something. well worth it.

 

We have yet to see a par measurement side by side for these fixtures.

 

There's a lot of measurements done on the ATI PowerModule & SunPower fixtures on the RC forums. The T5 guru (Grim Reefer) ran a ton of tests, found their output consistently better than many other name brands like TEK. ultimately his readings had the ATI 4-bulb performing as strong as a 6-bulb TEK standard. It has a lot to do with the reflectors, ballasts, and the really good active cooling system sin the ATI's. His readings are usually based on ATI & Geissman lamps. Many users were posting that their corals were melting/bleaching under the output of the fixtures. I don't think I've seen or read on any PAR measurements on a Catalina, but the size of the reflectors still concerns me when it comes to output. If you come across any measurements def post em the thread that has the ATI readings is 400 pages long so Ill find them sometime .

The Grim Reefer is the most knowledgeable T5 guy I've talked to as all his info is based in testing and not marketing or opinions. Very nice guy to boot. When I was researching what T5 fixture to get for my reef, I read up on a ton of his info & he was very helpful guiding my decision to get my Aquactinics TX5 fixture.

Here's his site he has lots of good T5 info on it: http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/