Crystal Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I am planning on making my 55g saltwater - reef with fish. corals are mostly softies, but I hope to add a couple LPS high up on the rock. the tank is 48" long with a center brace, 12" wide (13" if you count the outside of the frame). I have no idea when it comes to lighting or the skimmer... Any help is appreciated... What kind of lighting? I was thinking of either: 2x Coralife Aqualight Pro 24" 1-150W HQI, 2-65W PC, 2-1W Lunar LED or x1 Coralife Aqualight Pro 48" 2-150W HQI, 2-96W PC, 3-1W Lunar LED but I noticed someone said these cause glare and it is actually too wide for my tank. Do I really need MH? Would T5's and actinic work? What are other suggestions? Skimmer, I was thinking of either: Red Sea Berlin x2 Turbo Deltec MCE600 100-150g (can't seem to find this locally... someone said the European models don't work with Canadian plugins - is this true?) Any other ideas? This is going in a bedroom, if it is too noisy can it be turned off at night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 FYI: After some discussion on other reef sites I decided to go with the Deltec MCE600 skimmer and 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture - 4-Bulb, 4 x 54W by Sunlight Company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lt1fj40 Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 FYI: After some discussion on other reef sites I decided to go with the Deltec MCE600 skimmer and 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture - 4-Bulb, 4 x 54W by Sunlight Company. What is the price on that? I was able to get a 48" 2x250 Metal H and 4x54w T5 and 6 LED moon lights for 425 US including shipping from ZS Aurora (http://www.zsaurora.com/Product_pages/mhadv.html), and I am really pleased with it great quality and it comes with lights! Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanGSP Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 FYI: After some discussion on other reef sites I decided to go with the Deltec MCE600 skimmer and 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture - 4-Bulb, 4 x 54W by Sunlight Company. What is the price on that? I was able to get a 48" 2x250 Metal H and 4x54w T5 and 6 LED moon lights for 425 US including shipping from ZS Aurora (http://www.zsaurora.com/Product_pages/mhadv.html), and I am really pleased with it great quality and it comes with lights! Just a thought... Your exchange, duty and shipping is going to drive that price through the roof. You would be better off cruising this forum and canreef looking for a used fixture. I run a 24" 4 bulb T5HO New Wave fixture (Same company that make Teklights) and love it. Individual reflectors, 4 bulbs, runs cool, a t5HO for $130 (thanks to Gold's). I would look at a New Wave 48" fixture and they come in either 4 bulb or 8 bulb for half the price of a Tek if I were setting up a 48" tank.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lt1fj40 Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 FYI: After some discussion on other reef sites I decided to go with the Deltec MCE600 skimmer and 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture - 4-Bulb, 4 x 54W by Sunlight Company. What is the price on that? I was able to get a 48" 2x250 Metal H and 4x54w T5 and 6 LED moon lights for 425 US including shipping from ZS Aurora (http://www.zsaurora.com/Product_pages/mhadv.html), and I am really pleased with it great quality and it comes with lights! Just a thought... Your exchange, duty and shipping is going to drive that price through the roof. You would be better off cruising this forum and canreef looking for a used fixture. I run a 24" 4 bulb T5HO New Wave fixture (Same company that make Teklights) and love it. Individual reflectors, 4 bulbs, runs cool, a t5HO for $130 (thanks to Gold's). I would look at a New Wave 48" fixture and they come in either 4 bulb or 8 bulb for half the price of a Tek if I were setting up a 48" tank.. All in was 525 CDN, you would be hard pressed to find a light with metal h/T5 and LED in one unit for that price even used...But to each their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 If you are only planning to softies then the T5 light will be fine. But if you think that you may end-up doing SPS or any other hard corals in the future get MH now it will save you a headache down the road. Have you looked at J&L for lighting? The have some retrofit kits that you can make your own canopy for and it will save you some of the problems you mentioned with the Corallife fixture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanGSP Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 LPS, SPS, Clams, Softies can all be kept under T5 or Metal Halide but T5 will give you more play with your coral colours because you will have the ability to change out different bulbs. You dont really get that choice with a MH because you only have 1 bulb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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