question

[ilovesam08]

Is 500 watts too much for a standerd 55 gallon reef tank?

 

[blind1993]

what kind of lighting? t5s? mh? VHO? NO? PC?

 

[ilovesam08]

http://cgi.ebay.com/48-500W-Aquarium-Metal-Halide-Fan-Lunar-Coral-Reef_W0QQitemZ300270951896QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item300270951896&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1207%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318">http://cgi.ebay.com/48-500W-Aquarium-Metal-Halide-Fan-Lunar-Coral-Reef_W0QQitemZ300270951896QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item300270951896&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1207%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318</a>

here is a link of the light i am thinking of getting.
Any input would be nice.

 

[drnecropolis]

I don't think that's too much..

 

[jcusmarine]

No, I have 520 Watts on my 55 display.

The real question is what corals do you wish to keep, taking into consideration your budget, if you may need to run a chiller and as BLIND1993 mentioned, is there a specific type of lighting you are interested in using? - there are advantages and disadvantages so let us know your intentions for the tank......SPS, LPS, Softies, Clams etc?

 

[ace1204]

be careful buying those cheap ebay light, the ballast tend to go bad very shortly

 

[ilovesam08]

sorry it took so long to write back.
I am wanting to try to do more SPS, && clams/

How long do they last?
I just something to get me by until i have more money?

 

[blind1993]

http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=cur_sun_t5_48&Category_Code=d1a&Product_Count=3">http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=cur_sun_t5_48&Category_Code=d1a&Product_Count=3</a> get this

or

sal at saltwater city can get you some t5 retrofit kits 2x54w, get 2 of those and you should be set for anything except clams on the sand bed.

 

[ilovesam08]

OK thank you. when i looked on their website i didnt see tht one.
I think thats the one i am going to go with.

 

[blind1993]

one thing is to make sure that the inside of your canopy is 48.125in for that fixture.

 

[johnr2604]

You will want to change the ballast anyway. That looks like the oddysea fixture which is severely underdriven from what I have read. You can do some research on RC and will see what I'm talking about.

 

[drnecropolis]

Word.. The ballast issues they have fixed(I heard) but they are a tad on the weak side..

Give me a call or shoot me a pm.

 

[johnr2604]

DrNecropolis;238606 wrote: Word.. The ballast issues they have fixed(I heard) but they are a tad on the weak side..

Give me a call or shoot me a pm.

Are you talking about the Fires or the fact it only puts out 150watts? They had some issues with fires when they were using a magnetic ballast and have switched to an electronic but from what I have read is that people have run the killowatt meters on them and they were only drawing about 150watts. Alot of people are switching over to an icecap with good results. Even after buying an icecap its still a good deal when you consider the cost of most 2x250 fixtures

 

[ilovesam08]

alright i will do some research && thank you to all for the input.

 

[drnecropolis]

Was talking about the catching on fire issue lol

 

[william1]

I run a 8 bulb T5 set up from TEK. I have any SPS plus clams that I want with no worries.