Need Help Deciding Lights

M

Max125g

Reefing newb
So, rather then waiting for that deal of a lifetime to show up on Craigslist, i am just going to make a purchase.

I am split between these two
Nova Extreme Pro T5 High Output Lighting Fixture - 12 x 39W - 72 in. | T5 Lighting | Lighting Systems | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com
Those come very highly reccomended on this site, looks to be a very nice T5 setup

my other option is
Odyssea Metal Halide System

Made in china and seems to have some ballast issues, but overall a steal for a 3 bulb MH setup for a 72" tank

Suggestions on what to choose and why please. I don't want to be limited on what i can keep in my tank by my lights, although i have made no decisions yet on why type of corals i am going to keep.

Thanks ahead of time
 
on the odyssea you will need to change the ballast mine underdrove the bulbs so when i put in better bulbs they would not fire all the time and were dimmer than they are now with a good ballast
 
I'm not a fan of Odyssea brand.In the past,fire issues and quality was a BIG,BIG concern.They are much better today but the image has been tarnished to me.

I might of voted differently if it was a different MH fixture so I voted for the Nova Pros.Don't forget the MH is 1134w vs. 458w for the Nova,a substantial savings in electricity.
 
i think a nice LED setup for a 72" tank will be way out of my budget. lol. I have seen LED kits for a 72" tank go for 2k +. Outch
 
those are niiiiiice lights....$3k for a 125 is way too expensive, though.

between those two choices, I'd go with Nova... but why are you limited to just those two?
 
im not limited but those seem to be some of the most inexpensive yet most productive lights i can find. You have some additional suggestions? Both those lights are under 600 for a full 72" setup, thats cheapo
 
In my experience, cheap in this hobby means you'll be replacing it within 6 months, or be forced to compromise what corals you can keep. Personally, I saved up and bought the best lights I could find at the time. Mine were about $1600, and not the most perfect lights ever made....my set were only the 2nd ever bought in the country as they were a new product, which meant there were all sorts of mechanical faults no one knew of... not ballasts, like the odyssea, but structural problems.

Do you have an LFS near you? sometimes it's better to get lights locally because they cost so much to ship.

The main thing I'd look for for 72" lights are at least 2 HQI's... if there's two, they should probably be 250W... and at least 4 t5 HO actinics. As an additional bonus, lunar lights (blue LEDs) make the tank pretty after lights out.

Some things to think about:

-does the support strap on your tank (the black plastic band that goes across it) go through the middle? Or do you have two of them, each 1/3 down the length of the tank? if it's 1/2 like mine is, only get a fixture with 2 HQIs, because the center one will be dead center on the strap... and they can melt. Trust me on that.

- you'll need to be able to hang the lights, so make sure your tank is arranged so there are studs available to screw the eyebolts into. Otherwise, it's a major pain in the butt to get them hung up. The little legs that come with some lights ARE NOT sufficient to hold them up for any length of time, especially once the HQIs start operating regularly.

- you get what you pay for. That doesn't mean all expensive fixtures are awesome, because they're not. So do your research-- as you've been doing by asking here-- before shelling out the dough.

good luck!
 
Thanks Amanda!

Never thought about the center brace melting. Good point.

I for one am totally against the thought that cost = quality. In my business we have a "fancy" product that is IDENTICAL to a cheaper one. But if we sold it as the price of the "cheaper" one in the European market nobody would buy it. Despite being the IDENTICAL product, we have to raise the price to encourage sales-makes no sense i know.

Just cause they are cheap doesn't mean they are bad. Most of these "cheaper" brand aquarium equipment (if you look closly) is private labeled and identical to 2x and 3x more expensive stuff.

I was all for the Odyssea brand of lights until i realized the center bar would melt, thanks to you :)

Just don't let price always turn you off from a product.

Back to the drawing board i guess.. :)
 
Anybody know of a 72" MH/T5 Combo kit with one 2 MH's? i can only find the 3 MH kits and i want to avoid my center bar melting...
 
Is it unheard of to put some foil on top of the center brace spaced out so heat is not an issue? Would it be a terrible thing to only run the outer 2 MH's?
 
Personally, I would go for the odyssea and just attempt to perfom the fix on the ballast. I'm a huge fan of MH's. Sorry, but can't help you on the center brace issue.
 
I think Tank has made you paranoid.Do you think that if it is common for the middle brace to melt that they would of off set the middle bulb or just not offer 3 bulb MH fixture?If you are worried then hang the lights,a good fixture will have proper cooling usually through the top.
 
Sine my light has 3 250 watt HQI bulbs with one being dead center of the middle brace,I did use a product called FSK tape to reflect some of heat and UV rays.You can get that tape at any hardware store in the HVAC department.
But the big thing is that BIG,UGLY shadow thats right in the center of the tank.If I had it to do over ( and will eventually ) I'd hang 2 250s closer to the ends and position 2 150s on each side of the brace to cancel out the shadow.
 
Max125g said:
looks like i found what i am looking for....

outch.. and i'll be saving up for a while. Anybody selling one used? haha
Aqua Medic Ocean Light T5/MH HQI Combo Series, 72 inch 4 x 250MH + 4 x 39W T5 ? Black
Click to expand...

As a matter of fact, I am selling these exact lights used (approx. 2 years old, everything works great). Funny coincidence, eh?

I have no idea what shipping would cost. I imagine it would be horrendous. PM me if you are serious about buying them. It is the only fixture on the market with 4 halides within 72", and I don't think they even make them anymore.
 

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