I really wanted to get a dual satellite 12" 2x18w but it has been discontinued for some reason and no one has them any more. What are some good alternative lighting systems that provide similar performance?

I have one with good soft growth under it and I love it
Friend's coralife 2x18 ballast died so I don't like that.
DIY 4 pc bulb + fan would be easy - or 12 LED on 2 pucks

Yeah I heard that the coralife 36w overheat and are ruined pretty quickly. I like the LED lights but they are a little too expensive for me.

Coralife's run a lot cooler when you put Current USA bulbs in them. Looks better too.

Really! I didn't know that. Maybe that is what I will end up doing.

Strange as it sounds, it does run cooler. Part of it is to do with the larger tube size on the Current USA lamps. I noticed a considerable drop in temp in the fixture, and about a 2-3 degree drop in tank temp.

I have a how-to thread around here somewhere that shows you how to put the Current USA square pin bulbs in the Coralife fixture (straight pin).

Evilc66,
I'm trying to upgrade my picotope lighting and my spending budget is around $100 bucks. Do you think that the coralife 36w with the current USA bulbs would be my best option, or would you recommend something else that perhaps I haven't thought of.

+1 - comparing another Current dual satellite to the Nova Extreme to 12 LED's for a bonzai 7g display

any "rough" PAR's?

Start with the Coralife fixture. You don't have to get the Current bulbs just yet. Get them when you do your first bulb change in 6 months. They are cheaper than the Coralife bulbs anyway.

You can still buy the dual 12" fixture on ebay and a few other online stores for around $110.

I've been looking everywhere, where have you found it? The price for it on Ebay is $160.

Just came across this thread. I was looking for the Current USA Sunpaq 12" earlier today and found one at TSCHome.com. I ended up buying one for $122 (+$10 for shipping).

Dude you're a lifesaver.... I just went and got one. I hope they have them. I tried getting one from another website a few weeks ago and they charged me for it and it never got delivered. I emailed them to find out what was going on and they said they didn't have any more in stock. That would have been nice to know before they took my money... but luckily they refunded it.

Yeah. Well see. I did find a couple other obscure stores that said they had them. While everything looked good with my order I won't believe it until I have a tracking #.

http://www.toofishy.com/home.php

This place had them as of last week when I ordered it. I received it in good shape and got 2 extra bulbs just in case...

Seems like the Coralife 2x18w is the way to go...half the cost too...

Mounting isn't as friendly though. The legs are further appart than the Satellite, and it makes it difficult to use on some tanks. I know it won't fit on the Finnex 4g. I had to make a pvc frame for mine.

FYI-

I called TSC Home today and they told me that they no longer carried the Sunpaq. Just tried round two with toofishy.com.

Evilc66 - lemme know when your new PAR38's are done. I'm thinking about picking one of these bad boys up...

Same here... I emailed toofishy.com last night and they got back to me this morning saying they still have them in stock, so we should be good this time.

FYI- Mine arrived the other day. I haven't opened it up as I need to go buy some Current-USA mounting legs. I went back up to toofishy.com and it would appear that they no longer have the 12" Sunpaq 2x18w. They do still have the 1x18w, however.

Just thought id let you guys know that i looked and found evils thread on changing a coralife fixture to current use bulbs. Thought some might find it usefull.

Changing a Coralife to Current usa bulbs

Oh and thank you evil, im going to do this mod to my tank in a few months.

Sure thing. Easy mod, and the bulbs look better and are cheaper than the Coralife's.

So I found a dual satellite on Ebay for 60 bucks and got it. The only problem is that the guy who had it before took out the cooling fan for some reason. I bought a replacement fan from current usa but I'm not sure what to wire it to. It is a 12V fan, but does anyone know how to wire it?

You've got nothing to wire the fan to cause the 12" fixture didn't come with one - you'll need a sheathed wire to route trough the fixture on an external wall plug/wart. Better yet return yours and buy the fan direct from the fan MSG for $2.50.

No need for a fan. They run cool enough without one.