Coralife vs Current USA. Compact vs T-5

[Snowboarda42]

Just wondering what lighting system would do me better for the setup I am starting:

45 Gallon 16" tall All-Glass Aquarium
Reef w/Corals

I have been very interested in the 36" Current USA Nova Extreme T-5 with Lunar lighting, for $189.99 (normally $224) at 156Watt (4x39 Watt [2x 10,000k and 2x 460nm Actinic] and 3 Lunar LED), Built in cooling fan, 4 power chords, 3 power switches.

But I Found this one last night as Well:
36" Coralife Lunar Aqualight Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights, for $209.99 at 192Watt (2x96 Watt [1x10,000K and 1x Actinic] and 2x3/4W Blue LEDs), built in cooling fan, 3 power cords, 3 power switches.

I have been comparing the two and want some other opinions.

1. Is it worth the few extra $$ for more wattage since I am going to be growing corals?

2. Is the quality of the two comparable?

3. Does T-5 Seem to work better even though there is less wattage?

4. Which would you buy?


Thanks,
Elliott

 

[shavo]

Elliot, I went through this a few months ago with the two units you are comparing. My friend went with the coral life and I went with the Current. I do not have T5 I have power compacts on a 72" unit so I am not familliar with the difference in wattage between T5 and power compacts. However the two units I was comparing in 72" were very similliar and it was hard to find much of a difference. the only selling point that swayed me to go with the current fixture was that it had internal ballasts as opposed to external ballasts. Also I liked the current moon lighting better than coralife. Now that I have recently saw the lunar lights on my buddies I like them just as well. I think these lights are very comparable, good luck in your decision.
I am curious to see what people say about the t5 and watts.

 

[trido]

T-5s have a better reputation for Growing higher light corals. I have the PC fixture you described and would recommend against it as it will only be good for softies and the bulbs will need replacing every six months for optimum growth.

 

[ChrisRD]

If you get a T-5 setup with good individual lamp reflectors you'll get a lot more light into the tank per watt than PC. I believe the Nova Extreme does not have the individual reflectors, however, so you'd be missing out on a lot of the potential of T-5s with that fixture.

 

[shavo]

yo chris you know a little too much don't ya think? thanks man you usually make a lot of sense!

btw! elliot, whatever your choice isget in touch with me if your interested I found some places where you can get some bulbs on the cheaper side. I have been getting my bulbs direct from Hong Kong and everything appears to be legit, They even sent me a replacement bulb on one of my orders because i received it cracked.

ChrisRd how do you feel about these bulbs? I mean not knowing all the specs and all but i have replaced my bulbs with them and they fire up great and look just as good as anything else. just curious what you think.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I think I'll be going with the T-5 then. I found individual reflectors for it as well, but I'm having trouble finding a place that sells them.

They are made by TEK and are 2" wide which would allow me to use them with the T-5 Nova Extreme setup.

I really like the Idea of being able to really direct the light wherever I want to in the aquarium, and I've heard so much good about the T-5s.

The Current USA bulbs aren't the greatest, so I think I will be replacing those ASAP as well. So Shavo, I think I will take you up on that offer once I get everything set up.

Also, If anyone can find these reflectors that'd be awesome.

-Elliott

 

[ChrisRD]

If you want a setup with individual reflectors I would just buy one that has them (or build your own canopy and install a retro kit). FWIW, the IceCap reflectors actually perform a bit better than the Teks. www.premiumaquatics.com carries both and is an excellent vendor (and RDO sponsor :wink: )

Here's the Nova you mentioned above at a slightly better price:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... Current-T5

...the Tek fixture:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... SunlightT5

...and if it's in the budget, Aquactinics makes one of the best performing T-5 units currently available:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... quactinics

With all that said, you have a shallow tank, so depending on what you're looking to keep you may not need to get too carried away with lighting (ie. the Current fixture would be OK for less light demanding animals).

HTH

 

[ChrisRD]

ChrisRd how do you feel about these bulbs? I mean not knowing all the specs and all but i have replaced my bulbs with them and they fire up great and look just as good as anything else. just curious what you think.

I have no experience with them, but if you're happy with the look, your corals stay healthy under them and you have no reliability/longevity issues with them over time I don't see a reason not to use them.

Not sure that helps...

 

[shavo]

thanks, i'll let you know about the longevity of them. but for now all is good, and my wallet thanks me!!!

 

[Snowboarda42]

Thanks for all the help so far everyone, you guys kick @$$