165 watts t5 enough light

[tony45power]

i was looking to purchase nova extreme 48" t5 light fixture. would this light be good for 200gallon 6' long tank 24"high.i have just began to get into reef tank.

[kau_cinta_ku]

for softies, zoas, and leathers. the LPS would prob. have to be toward the top. but prob. no SPS, anemones, and other light demanding corals.

[tony45power]

should i get 2x 36" fixtures

[madreefer14]

Depends on what you want to keep. As Kau said. If you want to keep softies that should be fine. If you want to keep sps then you will need alot more light for that size of tank. If sps are on your agenda then I would reccomend a full 72 inch light system with at least 6 bulbs 2-3 actinics, 2-3 10k bulbs and some 12-18 k bulbs and run them off of icecap 660 ballasts. If you plan to keep sps let your tank mature for a year and make sure your water quality is high. But then if you keep just softies you should be ok. Personaly if lps are your plan I would lean twards more actinic and purple light say 12 or 18k. Coraline seems to like this spectrum better too under flourecent light. Hope this helps.

[cy88]

I had the same question, except mine is for 21" high. Although the nova extreme seems alright, I was referred to look at the Tek T5 HO systems since they have individual reflectors. It will definitely help since the light would be more concentrated.

(I am still in the process of deciding)

[MR PALM BEACH]

Just remember if you have a canopy on top that fixture exuast fan sits pretty close to the canopy. In that note you will be resticting alot of heat that Is trying to exuast from the fixture. The housing Is goign to get very hot!!! Do your self a favor If you have a canopy I strongly suggest a retorfit or you will have to add additional fans blowing on the fixtures housing.

[Scuba_Steve]

Yes, the nova extremes are a very inefficient light. The reason t5 is as powerful as it is, is due to the individual reflectors for each bulb. The nova doesnt have that feature. You might as well get vho t12 bulbs. I agree, 6 bulbs, preferably 8 for that size tank.

[tony45power]

i honostly dont know what i need or want. ive always had aggrisive fish. i got ri of all of them and now have some small reef safe fish and 1 anemoie. i want to purchase a light fixture thats not too much money doesnt use alot of eletric but i can have a some basic corals.i was looking at mariland with 4 t5 in it 48" and the nova extreme witch also has 4x t5 bulbs.but maybe i need to findd X4 t5 bulbs 72" long. i dont have a conopy either so i need something i can place on top of the tank. and something not too loud the tank is in my living room. what do you reccomend.

[MR PALM BEACH]

I have the Nove Extreme T5HO fixture and when the fan Is on Its pretty quiet, but you have to ask yourself and I know you want something cheap but what might be good for now with some corals might not be good for others down the road. Meaning when you decide on getting Into corals that will require a little more light I would hate to see you have to by another fixture just to support them. Maybe just spending an extra couple of bux will help you down the road. Check this fixtue this will deffinetly do the trick for everything. http://www.current-usa.com/nova_extreme_pro

[madreefer14]

Tony, I get the feeling that you may want to do a little bit more research on corals to help you to decide exactly what kind of corals you would like to keep. One book I would reccomend is ron shemek's marine invertebrates. This has several of the most common corals in the aquarium trade available and lists their light requirements. However it does not take into concideration the advances in lighting that has taken place in the recent past. Lobophilas, trachaphilas, greenstars, "brain" corals all require less lighting than say a clam or acroporas. One thought is if you want to keep both types of corals and clams is that you could build your rock structure in the form of a pyramid with the peak at the center about 6 inches from the surface. You could place a clam here or an acro or two. This could allow you to get by with just a 48 inch light system. Just remember to allow adiquate space for growth and as the system matures you will need to prune back the corals then sell or trade the frags. I agree with scuba steve, if you have a canopy you definitly want a retrofit such as the ones at reefgeek. I would still add at least one fan in the back of the canopy. An easy and cheap mod would be to buy a 12v muffin fan from Radio Schack and solder a cord to the leads, screw it to the back of your canopy and VIOLA a $12 cooling system. However if you want to keep acros and clams you definately want a 6-8 bulb system full length and run them off of icecap 660 ballasts. If you do that you will need at least 2 660 ballasts for a 6 bulb configuration and for an 8 bulb system 2 660 ballasts and a 440 ballast. all told for a 6-8 in retro full lenth your looking at about $850-900. For a 4 ft system with ice cap 660- about $300. Now for a 4 ft retro from reefgeek with 2 triad ballasts about 175$ and this would be fine too if all you are going to keep are softies. Hope this helps