Lighting upgrade assistance needed

[putemup]

I am interested in upgrading my current power compact lights to either LED or T-5 lighting.

My wife made it perfectly clear that the only way we will buy new lights will be if they are able to fit under the canopy while closed. I currently have an older oceanic (older styled canopy) with only approximately 5-6 inches of clearance between the tank and the canopy while closed.

The goal of the purchase is to no longer be limited to what I’m able to keep in the tank and to reduce the amount of heat produced.

Any suggestions as to what I can get as well as where to buy it would be much appreciated.

*I’ve checked with some sponsors already*

 

[superclown]

http://www.nanotuners.com">http://www.nanotuners.com</a>

[IMG]http://www.ecoxotic.com">Http://www.ecoxotic.com</a>

[IMG]http://www.nanocustoms.com">Http://www.nanocustoms.com</a>

 

[cr500_af]

If you want to reduce heat, definitely do T5s or preferably LEDs. A MH inside a canopy, that close to the water, is going to produce heat issues IMO.

 

[gnashty]

what size tank and how deep?

 

[hnguyen]

LED's will be your best shot. Check these out.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+21600&pcatid=21600">http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+21600&pcatid=21600</a>

If I'm correct you should have enough room within the closure that your PC's are in right now. Just remove them and screw these in there. Depending on how big your tank is, I would put 2 blue's and 1 white in them. With that combo your tank will look great and they will support pretty much any type of coral. They produce no heat at all. I can have mines running all day and still touch them and they are only warm to the touch. Try doing that with T-5's or better yet a MH!! lol. Although I run MH, PC, T-5's and these LED's in my tank all come on and off at different times.

 

[putemup]

I currently have a standard 75 gallon tank.

 

[putemup]

Also when dealing with either LED or T-5&#8217;s how many bulbs do you need or power from the bulbs to maintain a healthy non restricted reef. Example&#8230;.I&#8217;ve seen the led&#8217;s go from say a 5 bulb strip to a 80 bulb strip. There&#8217;s got to be a difference somewhere. While reading the description, both company&#8217;s say there the best thing ever made.

 

[hnguyen]

With the LEDs I mentioned above. 2 strip can support a 24g biocube with ease. They have 12 bulb per strip. So if your running a 75g then I think 5 will do. But in this case 5 of these still run you about $500 so your better off going with t-5s

 

[superclown]

I thought you had a nano tank my appologies Led's are nice but depending on what your budget is lighting anything bigger than a nano can get quite expensive with led's t-5 will work great I would go with a hi output t-5

 

[brianjfinn]

As stated before, LEDs are great for smaller tanks, as they can get really expensive compared to other types of lighting. I would definitely go with t5s, with at least six bulbs. If you can pack eight in there, that would be great, and four probably won't be enough, although they are easier on the budget.

 

[putemup]

Thanks for all of the input guys. It looks like I begin researching T-5 systems.

 

[cr500_af]

A six bulb T5HO light is not going to break the bank, but you can keep most anything as long as you pay attention to placement in the tank.

 

[rtackett]

check out the LEDs at this site