Starting a 20gal

[skabooya]

Ive been doing more research on PC's and they are not very energy efficient compared to T5's. I would like to go for 4x24 T5's.
I would like to pick up the lights pretty soon. Is this a good fixture? http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...ID=sl-t5nw2404

[BigA]

Seems ok. Somethings I would pay attention to on that unit....

1) It says that bulbs not included. Expect to pay another $100 for 4 bulbs

2) It says it must be hung from the ceiling. If it was me who was buying, that is not very practical. Not that I move my tanks around often, but I'm not big on hanging things from the ceiling.

Other than that, I would say it looks good.

[gqlmao]

For the price thats a great fixture! besides having bulbs it will end up costing around 240. I've had it under a 24 inch deep tank and it did fine but thats just my opinion. for a 20 gallon that should be plenty sps, clams. But another point is that the fixture doesnt have a splash guard which protects the bulbs and the reflectors however for that price you can expect a little less than perfect. Also it doesnt have a power switch that allows certain bulbs to turn on, therefore leaving you the only option to turn all 4 bulbs on at once when you plug it in. One last thing is that the ballast is a workhorse ballast, these are cheaper ballasts and definitely weaker than icecap ones for example which are said to overdrive t-5 bulbs.

Hope this helps!


Stanley,

[gqlmao]

Hey heres an image of just the t-5s on my cube, my other light isn't on, just to give you an image of the intensity of the light. The tanks 30x30x24.




Stanley,

[Midknight]

Nice looking tank, but you may want to get someone that mixes your sand up a bit.

[gqlmao]

ahaha Thats a deceptive picture lol. Its actually barebottom :P Heres a better pic when its clean and with my sets of light on! My mh and t-5s mix quite well together Although I think mh + t-5 on a 20 gal a little over kill

[skabooya]

so then would it be better to go with 2x24 T5 for my tank? I dont want to keep sps or clams but i want nice bright corals. I want my zoas and shrooms to pop and i may want to keep some lps like a brain but really im more interested in my softies.
Ive been recommended PC's but ive read they are not cost efficient, however they are in my price range. Im gonna keep looking around but i would like your opinions about what you think would be the best lighting for my situation. I really dont want MH. just for an FYI.

Oh and thanks for all the responses it really helped me out quite a bit.
PS that is a good looking tank

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by gqlmao

ahaha Thats a deceptive picture lol. Its actually barebottom :P Heres a better pic when its clean and with my sets of light on! My mh and t-5s mix quite well together Although I think mh + t-5 on a 20 gal a little over kill

How small are those fish if thats a 20G??? hahaa..