Nova Extreme Pro

[fishbait]

what are your'e thoughts on this fixture? do you know anyone who runs one? I'm thinking of getting this fixture in the next couple of weeks. I know the i.r. isn't as good as the aquatinics sun blaze fixture, but for the $500 price difference, I think I can cope. the biggest downfall I can see is that it doesn't have moon lights. by the way. foster and smith has it on sale for around $350 with bulbs.

 

[d.french]

after holidays i'm gonna replace my metal halides on 125 tank with the 72" nova pro mainly for heat issues with halides and less power consumption.

 

[reeffreak]

I see that the price has gone down.At $430 it was a good buy,at $350 its a steal,well kinda.Still,I don't understand why they didn't include lunars.The old fixture(which they still sale)was darn good,these even better.I would get it and replace three of the bulbs.

 

[fishbait]

.I would get it and replace three of the bulbs.[/QUOTE

those were my thoughts also.

 

[Pheeshes]

which three would you replace and why?

 

[reeffreak]

which three would you replace and why?

The slimpaq bulbs don't have good as PAR as other bulb companies,mainly ATI and UV.Secondly,all blue and crisp white bulbs don't bring out the colors as well.I would replace one of the 460nm actinics with a UV Super actinic(420nm purple) and two of the daylights.An ATI aquaspecial 12k(slight blue daylight) and a GE6500k.

 

[Pheeshes]

wow, they weren't kidding when they said you knew alot about lights. thanks for the help

 

[fishbait]

reef, is the ge 6500k the one that is supposed to bring out red colors really well?

 

[Bifferwine]

wow, they weren't kidding when they said you knew alot about lights. thanks for the help

Yeah, Freak is the resident lighting expert. I don't dare venture into that side of the hobby :).

 

[reeffreak]

reef, is the ge 6500k the one that is supposed to bring out red colors really well?

Yes,and its good for corals too.There 3000k will bring out red,pink.orange and yellow even more.You'll need two actinics to balance the 3000k,it really,really orange hue.Still okay for corals too but not as good as the 6500k.I've swapped out both bulbs,I liked the 3000k more for fixtures with 7 or more banks.

 

[fishbait]

it looks like the 3000k would really grow some algae too.

 

[fishbait]

I was thinking of two 420nm bulbs instead of one. then one 50/50 actinic of some sort such as the ATI bulb you suggested. but, you're the lighting expert. to make a long story short, i'm just looking for something to bring out the colors more, without loosing too much PAR, or making my tank look too blue.

 

[reeffreak]

Ideally,replacing all the bulbs would be the best thing to do.The slimpaqs aren't great but they still work,thats why I mentioned three bulbs.Sure,the more you replace the better.

Trust me on this,ANY daylight bulb will grow algae.Nutrient will play a larger role.When it comes to lighting,whats good for nuisance algae is good for corals.They do have symbiotic relation with the algae in their tissue after all.

 

[fishbait]

true reef, that is true

 

[fishbait]

well, I had a major setback. came home to a freaking busted hot water heater tonite:frustrat: so, there went 2/3 of the money that I had saved to buy lights with.:frustrat: why couldn't this happen in say....JULY! I could have made it a week without hot water then. but, since it's december......

 

[reeffreak]

Sorry Fish.
When it rains it pours,right?What lights are you running now?

 

[fishbait]

i'm currently running the 265 watt, current outer orbit pc's.

 

[d.french]

nova xtreme pro is on sale, i'm thinking of getting one after tax returns so i can get my power bill down, our power company been raising bills around here been big issue even on news channels so i could save money switching from halides and heat issues to no heat issues and lower power consumption. But i will change bulbs to ati and geisemann bulbs.

Aquarium Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Systems: Nova Extreme Compact T-5 System

 

[reeffreak]

For a second,I thought you already had a Nova Fish.Like Dfrench said,now is the time to buy.

 

[fishbait]

yeah, It's a super good buy right now. that's why I have been so fired up to buy one.