Which t5 would you add?

[Inigma]

I think the cheapest way to ad some attinics to my 72bf is to throw a t5 fixture underneath the canopy.

I found a

2 bulb 48" coralife aqualight t5 normal out put fixture that is 3" deep so it won't take up much space for about $65.00.

Or

I found a 2 bulb high out put t6 fixture by odyssea for $50.00 but its 4 3/4"'s deep so it takes a little more space but is like twice the wattage.

Just asking an opinion to see if I could get swayed either way. Right now I figure I could try the Odyssea light and if I don't like it, I could then order the coralife light...

The LFS has been out of the coralife light for a little while now. I think they are redesigning it to be re-released so I'd have to order it. Other wise I'd have already bought that one. I found the Odyssea one looking for the Coralife one on-line so I'd have to order that one as well.

The canopy already has two 250w mh retrofitted in it. Just no attinics or moon lights yet.

Thanks,
Kris

[madadi]

since noone jumped in on this one, why not go with t5s? you can get a workhorse 7 ballast from ebay for 25 bucks, it will run 4 t5s but will overdrive 2 a little. not as good as an icecap ballast but the icecaps are way more expensive. i would stay away from pure actinic t5s because they tend to be a bit purple and not much florescence. get some individual reflectors from customaquatics and the endcaps and bulbs from reefgeek. buy it right the first time and you will save money. get some reef blue or special blue bulbs, they are darker, bluer and more florescent. i did just that and made the right choice. im happy with my t5s i have 8 over the tank retrofitted in the canopy
since your going to try one for 65 and then the other for 50 and neither are as good as spending 100 bucks for the t5s, save some time and money
good luck

[madadi]

i forgot to mention that the t5s im talking about are HO T5s 54w per bulb, overdriven you can get up to 80w on an icecap ballast, not sure how much im getting on my workhorse 7 though

[moo0o]

thats weird..i always htought workhourse didnt overdrive at all. but anyway, id retro fit it.

[Inigma]

Good to know. I only really need two bulbs, one front one back. Not sure if I have room for 4, but I could try to squeeze them in. Thanks for the tip on bulb choice too! Trouble is the 72bf's arent that deep from front to back so I have to try to squeeze them in around the 250w mh's.

Thanks again and I'll take a look at those.

Kris

[madadi]

if you get the reflectors from customaquatics you can actualy bend them as much as you want. i have mine thin as 1.75in from 2.5in so i can fit 8. make sure you get the cheaper ones. they can be bent. the more expensive ones are harder metal and have some reinforcing metal at the ends that you don't really need. both are parabolic so are pretty much the same.