lighting help

[bonomo53]

looking to upgrade my lighting but not sure what to go with looking at one evolution led fixture a 6 bulb tekelite fixture or maybe halides but i dont want to have to buy a chiller what do you guys think i should go with i have a $300-$400 price range here my tank http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/95517-bonomo53s-57-edge.html

 

[ryangrieder]

i highly agree with the 6 bulb tek elite fixture. i just picked mine up last week from russ over at salt water critters, its AMAZING. i had the 4 bulb tek fixture, which was awesome, but i want to upgrade the tank soon so i am slowly upgrading everything first before the tank. the fixture is the first thing i got. the fans in the elite fixture...honestly you cannot even hear them turn on! it is completely silent like they say. the reflectors on the fixture are out of this word. i highly reccomend the 6 bulb elite! LEDS are too expensive, and halide are a thing of the past...

 

[bonomo53]

thanks yeah i was thinking about going with the tek elite i found it for a great price online

 

[strgazr27]

LEDS are too expensive, and halide are a thing of the past...

Ryan....You've seen Randy's 240. I have not seen an LED tank yet that looks like his does....I will agree LED's are expensive but if one is not worried about heat or has a way to deal with it or electrical costs (The savings that come with LED's are VERY case dependant) than MH's are still tough to beat. I would still list my choices as MH/T5 combo, T5 by themselves and than LED's....

The dimming and programming are very cool but I wonder if recreating daylight cycles and Thunderstorms is really needed with a large amount of todays tank inhabitants tank raised never having seen the light of day so to speak.

 

[alfani]

i just think led are way overly hype.. how much is 1 kilo watt difference anyway, watt difference is not that big of deal. in the summer time it might save you some electric bill but the other 10 months your heater is picking up the price. you can jusy turn off the lights and have some black out periods in the summer

i'm sticking to my diy led/mh combo, uses led only for the actinics

 

[Imbarrie]

I have the TEK Elite 6 bulb 54W on my 75 and I love it.

But I am open to LED in the future, I think if progress is on-track they will be the lighting of choice in 5-10 years.

 

[bonomo53]

i eneded up ordering a tek elite 6x39w thank for the help guys

 

[ryangrieder]

i eneded up ordering a tek elite 6x39w thank for the help guys

I promise you you will love it and won't regret it, As long as you run the correct bulbs.

 

[bonomo53]

ahah alrite yeh im going with 3 blue plus 2 aquablue special and a fiji purple

 

[bonomo53]

so my tek elite fixture should be here tm do you guys think i need to acclimate my corals to the new light is it going to be that much stronger then my current 4 bulb deep blue fixture