T5 Metal Halide Combo

Hello all,

I wanted to get your opinion on this product that I found on ebay and see if anyone has had any experience with it...

48" 716W HQI Aquarium Light Metal Halide T5 Reef Fish LED 2X250W 4X54W Saltwater | eBay

I am setting up a 110G reef tank and I have looked a lot into the lights. I do not want to spend an arm and a leg right off the rip with the lighting system due to the price of the custom stand, canopy and drilled reef tank. I will be going slow with this process. My first few coral purchases will be some sort of beginner polyps & mushrooms.

Other than changing out the light bulbs would this fixture be good to get me started? I know I will probably need to replace a few years down the road once I get a more established tank and more difficult corals.

Any help will be grateful!

 

Waiting a bit longer, saving, and buying a quality lighting fixture from the beginning will save you money and headaches later. It should also be noted that some, not saying this particular fixture, have been linked to failures causing fires.

 

+1!

I've had experience with some of those cheap eBay fixtures and they're just worthless, yeah they'll work for a month or two but you'll start having problems really quickly. Plus if you plan on replacing the bulbs anyways that's another 250$ right off the bat. Just spend some extra cash and you wont be displeased. I currently run an Aquaticlife 4 T5HO and 2 150w HQI and this thing is top notch, quality built and have had it for over a year!

 

I've looked a lot into Aquaticlife and they seem to have great reviews. Would I get by just having 4-t5's for the time being only having soft corals. I don't think I will get any SPS or LPS for a few years so I could add the metal halides down the road. Like I said before, I only plan on having polyps: such as blue sympodium & colony polyps etc. I am also really big into mushrooms corals as well.

My main goal is to get the tank up and running with live sand, live rock and fish and then add corals towards the end of summer. If I don't get anything that moves in it quick my wife won't like the fact of how much money it is.

 

I agree.

 

I would save up and get the right unit right off the bat. Otherwise, you're limiting yourself on what you can add to your tank and may ultimately pay more money down the road. No telling what corals you may want to buy in 6 months.....

Plus, your tank, I believe, is 31" deep. You'll want some stronger light to penetrate that depth. I had you idea too, but I am now on my 3rd light unit when I could have purchased 1 good one to begin with.

Lastly, you don't need to cycle your tank with a light. If you plan on having the tank "coral ready" by the end of summer, then you have up to 7 months to save up for a good light.

I would look at:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Hamilton...tures-Hamilton-HT01201-FILTFIMHTFDEMT-vi.html

http://www.marinedepot.com/Aqua_Med...ight_Fixture_-Aqua_Medic_USA-AQ19711--vi.html

 

Good point. I am probably 6-7 months away from having it ready for coral. If I end up throwing some small fish in I will just hook up a few regular fresh water light fixtures with some actinic blue bulbs in it.

 

If your tank is that deep (30"+), I would look into LED lighting. Since you have time to save, it would be your best bet for the types of corals you are looking at. LEDs can penetrate depth better than T5/MH because the lights can be focused into a narrow beam, thus sending more light deeper, rather than wider. If you are a little handy, you can make an all-in-one LED unit with the purchase of a few parts. Talk with the RapidLED.com staff, and they can give you an idea of what you'll need. Best of luck.

 

I agree with the rest. Much better to start with quality. I owned the Hamilton Belize that fsukum recommends and it worked great. Have since switched to LED

 

I've looked into LED's a little bit. So basically if I get LED's I could avoid getting metal halide lights? LED's run a lot cooler then halide's correct, so I can help avoid overheating issues.

I'm very handy and I've thought about building my own light system in my canopy. If all else fails, I work in an industry where I can get an electrician to help me out if I got that route.

Ill do more research on LED systems.