Help lighting a 24" cube
 

Okay, so I need a bit of advice. I am going to sell my 90g system and I'm downsizing to a 24" x 24" x 18" cube which I'll have custom built and will be sps dominated. I'm getting a major headache with all the lighting options. I need something that's going to give me enough coverage and be good enough to keep sps alive & well but isn't going to cost me a fortune. I wanted to do all T5 (maybe try LED later on) but I'm having a hard time finding anything that's going to be more cost effective, it looks like they will have to wait and be a future upgrade(I've been looking at the ATI & Star Fire). I wanted to stay away from metal halide for heating issues and power consumption but I have the chance to get a Lumenarc pendant (250w de), will this suffice and how much a heat issue would you think I'd have(I just sold a brand new never used chiller :::smacks self in head::: and don't want to buy another)? I've also been looking at buying the fishneedit halide t5 combo lighting, I'd do a single 250w halide with a 2 x 24w t5 fixture on either side of the halide. What does everyone think? Any opinions or ideas?

after testing my 24" tek lights i think halides are needed to keep some of the more needy sps
i have 8x24w bulbs and its what i would call medium strength, but my tank is also 24"deep so 6 or 8 bulbs might be ok but id recomend something else

I think the 18" depth might make a difference. I thought about the Tek but the biggest they make in the 24" is the 4 bulb.

4 bulbs wont cut it for most sps even in 18", i have 8bulbs and i just ordered a giesmann infinity to replace them with,
i would sugest a fixture with a 250w and 2-4 t5's or maybe 2x 150w and 2-4 t5's

if you really want to keep it all t5's then look at the ati or some of the other higher end lights that you can get at least 6-8 bulbs

I knew 4 bulbs wouldn't cut it. I was thinking of eventually going with a 6 bulb but that'll be a while. The Infinity is really nice but lots of $, I bet it'll look sharp on your tank.

I think the fishneedit option might be okay but you need to know that the 2 bulb versions do not have independent reflectors. Now is this a must...I don't know. I converted my Aqualite Pro from two 65W PC's to 4 39W T5HO and I get double if not more the light and each pair of bulbs only has 1 reflector.

I know that individual reflectors is better, I just didn't have the room and neither does the fishneedit T5ho light.

Not sure if that helps but I think it would be a nice light for a decent price.

It just so happens that my small tank is exactly the same size that you are considering. Right now I'm running a 150MH pendant with no actinics. Mostly have SPS and some softies. I've used this light for about a year now with no problems. Growth rates are all good.
Check out Phreezee as he had a nice (I think it's a Fishneedit) pendant he was going to sell me but it wouldn't fit the lip of my aquarium
This is the light I currently have. I'm going to sell it but I have to find a replacement first.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/mh...+1+x+150W.html

We have these in stock
NEW WAVE T5 28 (2 FT - 8 LAMP)
you can view here.

http://www.sunlightsupply.com/aqua/p...g&type=product

Kevin

Do they have the individual reflectors? I'm not sure I like the fact that they won't accept the protective lens. It might be something to consider though but what is the Canadian pricing on it?