light/hood recommendation?

[shoggoth43]

I've got the 60" x 18" tank footprint. It's 26" deep and I now need a light for it.

I'm thinking of hanging the fixture and I'm interested in a T5 fixture. Any recommendations? I don't really mind if it's a 48" fixture or bulbs as I can get those easy enough. I'd like something durable enough to at least support the occasional feline perch should it happen. I'm just not really sure what's out there and what's of high quality. I'm probably going to have to hang the unit if it's a 48" unit and I think I'd prefer some sort of hanging fixture overall.

-
S

 

[pat w]

Commercial -- Tek($$$), Catalina(less$$)
DIY CF gutts kit -- AH Supply(supposed to have really good reflectors...Rex Grigg likes um)

That's about the limit of my research for my tank in the last few weeks. I went with Catalina. Should be here Friday. I'll let you know on the quality then.

Pat

 

[Biollante]

Ask For A Deal

Hi S,

I always recommend checking out local commercial lighting places, particularly in major metropolitan areas. I am not talking about the fancy storefront places, but the ones that tend to be located in warehouse districts. :gw

Some of these guys will come up with really innovative ideas (some won't give you the time of day) and you never know what they got stuck with, from some product that fell through.

Occasionally you get lucky and someone working there is reef keeper or even planted tank guy and they order in all the alternate brands.

I have found if you can bring in bulb specifications, the more technical the better, they have magic books and computers that can often match you with the low cost equivalent of the mega-buck rip-off specialty bulbs.

Ask for a deal. If you don't ask, you don't get!

A thought.

Biollante

 

[Gerryd]

S,

How about this?

I was looking at it for myself.......

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/241220/product.web

 

[shoggoth43]

That's actually the model I've been leaning towards. I had considered the 6 bulb model for the light spread. With the dual attachment points it looks like it would be reasonably durable.

Fishneedit has a new model coming in "April" which probably isn't going to cut it just due to timeframe, but the rounded top would definitely discourage feline loitering. I'm not really going to be able to put this off indefinitely though since I'm thinking that I'd LIKE to do a dry start so I'll need the other light but reality may force an early flooding of the tank.

-
S

 

[Tom Barr]

I do not think you'll need 6 bulbs, nothing wrong with having extra, but be sure you can turn off each pair(so 3 switches for 6 bulbs). 3-4 bulbs is all you will need most likely say 8-10 hours.

I'd go with Tek and 4 bulbs over a Cat and 6.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[shoggoth43]

Cool, that's the bit I was looking for. The price is close enough between the brands in any event, but I like the bombproof durability of the Tek units that I'm reading about. No moonlights but I can fix that.

It looks like 2 switches on the unit by default, but I'm not sure if that's quite right since it would seem to make more sense to have 1 switch per pair. I think I'll stick with the 4 bulb unit since thats ~210 Watts of T5 HO over a 120 gallon tank. The ends might be a touch dimmer but I'll have to raise this thing up quite a bit I think anyway to get the intensity down. At half power we'll have to see where that goes....

-
S