My dream tank is going to be an Oceanic Illuminata. It is 36" long, 18" wide, and 21" tall. I don't want to go straight metal halides because I can't have the actinic effect I love.

So, I want either the TEK 36" 6x39w T5's, Here."

Or the Nova Extreme Pro 36" 6x39w T5's, here.

The Nova Extreme Pro is cheaper, and has built in fans. The TEK does look nicer, but I don't really care if it doesn't perform better. Help would be much appreciated

Thanks!

The Tek is a better fixture (you can add fans). The reflectors are better and it puts out more light than the NE Pro. The Tek doesn't come with bulbs, so factor that in when comparing the price; however, you'll eventually want to replace the stock bulbs in the NE Pro as well.

I agree with Biotoper.

This, however, will come down to what you want to grow. I see folks growing clams at 16" under a NEP (in fact, a 36" model), so I think they are fine for tanks at least to that depth.

For 21" tall, I would be more inclined toward the TEK, or even a nice retro kit from www.reefgeek.com. The Icecap and Aquactinic reflectors are actually better at punching light to the bottom than a TEK is.

Would a 150w metal halide bulb penetrate better? I was thinking about saving up for a halide/T5 combo. The once I add fans and bulbs the TEK will be almost as expensive. I'll look on reefgeek. If anybody knows of a good 150w halide/T5 combo let me know. I like the Outer Orbit Pro but it's expensive.

the 6x39 tek will be plenty for anything over that tank.I know a local that had a 65 gal which is 24inch tall with a 6x39 tek over it and did well.It had sps and clams top to bottom.T5s put out alot better light then some think lol.

That's great! Thanks for the info. How high above the water did it hang?

I still am sorta interested in halides though, because of the shimmer

He had the legs on it so only few inches above water.I had halides in past few times and only missed the shimmer when first turned on t5s but then the colors with the t5s made up for it real fast.t5s>mh imo.

Not necessarily. The halide does have several pros and cons over the 6X39 T5. I don't think the halide will give you quite as much PAR as a 6X39 NEP (if you remove the current USA lamps and load it with ATI and KZ lamps). It will give good light penetration, and also that lovely halide shimmer.

However, you'd be limited in your color options if you didn't have T5 supplements.


One big plus though is that you could spend $60 once per year on a new bulb (MH) instead of $120-140 on 6 new ones on the NEP.


I have nearly gone to a halide over my 25g for this reason, but decided not to. Going to do LEDs instead

I can tell you that a 250 halide in a good reflector will definitely put out more PAR than a NEP. The question is what kind of tank are you planning on and do you actually needa 250?

I was thinking 150w. 2 150w halides with 2-4 T5 bulbs to supplement, like here:

Outer Orbit Pro Series HQI/T-5/LED lights

The picture has one bulb but thats the 24". I think that 2 bulbs sounds perfect. Unless I could get a better retro that still has the combo.



The tank is 36x18x21. So it is a 40 breeder but 3 inches taller.

cheapest place to get tek fixtures right now hands down 36" tek fixture. it comes with free shipping and giesseman bulbs

Dang! That's cheap... I don't have the tank yet though. Lol.

40b is only 16.

Ohhh. That's not too bad, my Biocube is about 16 inches. I wish I could get a 40 breeder 5 inches deeper instead of taller...

So I saw the ATI light fixture... same specs but it is supposed to be much stronger. If I go that route then I'm sure my lighting will be okay. Next is how to mount it...

ATI fixtures are far superior lol to Tek, with built in fans and a very good if not the best reflectors. However, depending on what you keep, ATI fixture might be too much in comparison to a 6-bulb fixture. For example, since the ATI puts out higher output, a 4-bulb fixture might be equivalent to other 6-bulb fixtures,

Wow... Well I want SPS, but I want to keep some soft corals and ricordeas on the bottom. I saw somebody else with an illuminata though, and he had the ATI. I am looking at a halide/T5 combo now though.