outer orbit 48 or Aqua Medic Ocean Light ?

[dngonzales]

well you guys have helped me narrow it down to two lights the outer orbit has a 2 150 mh and pc's and has moon lights and the aqua medic has 250 w and t5 but no moon lights which is better im kinda swaying twoards the outer orbit is it good or will i be better off getting aqua medic with external ballast box

[rbonick]

Can't speak to the Aqua Medic but I do have the 48" outer orbit. It is a quality, well built unit. My only question would be what do you want to keep in the tank? If you are thinking SPS, I would go with the 250's. I actually upgraded the outer orbit to 2 x 250 as DIY project. The one thing I really like about the orbit unit is the ability to put directly on the tank without having to hang wires.

[HaroldT]

I would go Aqua Medic 250 watt unit instead of the 150 watt. If you want to keep more hard corals, the 250 watt unit would be the better choice IMO.

[dngonzales]

i would like to keep some mushrooms and zooanthids but would eventually like to keep hard corals

[dngonzales]

i forgot to post i have a 48x13x20 55 gallon you dont think (2) 250w MH is to much light ?

[theishkid]

For what you are wanting to do, and the dimensions of your tank, you would probably be fine with the outer orbit. I don't think most mushrooms and zoo's require that much light. Even if you want to keep sps you would probably be okay if you put them up high.

90% of people on here will tell you that you NEED 250 MH's. Those are the same people that said you NEED VHO lighting 2 years ago when it was popular when I first got into the hobby before MH's made the rounds. I have been keeping hard corals on a PC strip for the past two years before I upgraded tank and light when we moved.

If it's any consolation... I just purchased the outer orbit and it's beautiful. It's an awesome light with a good color. It doesn't have that yellow tint to it that some of the other combo fixtures have.

[dngonzales]

with the outer orbit can you upgrade the bulb to a higher kelvin if you want without making any mods ? or running into any issues as long as you stay with the same wattage?

[GorillaReefer]

Aqua Medic for sure. dont waste your money on anything else.

[tm49er]

i have 2 250 DE aqua medic lights and i think they're great. i got the 20K bulb and everything is doing fine in my tank.

[Don Berry]

I have the Aqua Medic and I am very happy with it. I wouldn't even think about the Outer Orbit if you want to keep sps. Why wouldn't you want 250watt MH's if it is the same price? You could always install a DIY Moonlight. I think the moonlights are probably just a couple blue LED's.

[theishkid]

You can upgrade the bulbs to any color temp you want. However with the supplemental actinic lighting of the power compact lights on the outer orbit, you would not need to change bulbs. You get a really nice blue.
I don't think that LED's are that important (and I haven't ever since they became popular), however, I must admit that they sure do look cool. You get some of the same glitter lines at night that you do with MH's. There are 6 white LED's on the orbit.
I have just gone through the same thing you have, which is the only reason I am voicing my opinion. MH's are HOT. That was half the reason I did not go with 250's. Look into heat issues before you make your purchase. I personally don't have enough money right now to buy a chiller.

[theishkid]

you may also want to look up a comparison of HQI vs. DE. I wasn't really sure but some people say the output of HQI is better than DE. I don't know if that's true or not but it might be something else to look in to.

[dngonzales]

yeah i was thinking about the heat/chiller cost also now as it is my tank is running 78-80 degrees closer to 80 most of the time i try to keep it cool in the house i didnt know there was a difference between hqi and de another reef member said it was just a brand name i guess ill have to ponder on it some more the remote ballast box is nice and would assume that in the future you could remove the old ballast and upgrade to something like an ice cap some say they are good and just keep the same hood also with the t5 bulbs are they easily available i will be getting whichever light from marine depot and they dont sell t5 bulbs maybe just because they are on the power compact bandwagon i dont know im just starting out and dont want to have to purchase lighting twice cause i made a mistake in the past the
6-700 dollars will bee the only way i can get my wife to allow me to get mh. 1000 is just way to much besides thats half the price of the dlp big screen i want

[theishkid]

hqi and de are not just brand names, they are types of fixtures. hqi's are connected on both ends of the bulb and apparently have better output. de's (i think) are like regular light bulbs in that they only connect on one end.
I'm not to sure about upgrading. I know one guy did upgrade the internal balast on the orbit to a 250. There's a thread on that somewhere around here.
Either way you go you're gonna be happy. There's not really anything you CAN'T do with either light. You only have a 20" tall tank so you're gonna get good penetration even with 150's. One thing I realized before picking my light was a lot of the people that have and push the 250's often have deeper tanks. I'm sure 250's are great, but you sound a lot like me; worried about cost, and also future cost of chillers and such.

[dngonzales]

yeah true i wish i could find the thread about upgrading the oo to see how difficult or easy it was and considering depth i guess you are right if i ever can afford to set up a bigger tank i would just buy all new stuff since i would keep the one i have currently setup in another room it sounds like you really enjoy your OO how is the heat on yours theishkid are you using the suspension cables how far do you hav it over the water?

[dngonzales]

ok im considering this light for the fact that i wont have to upgrade in the future but does anyone have this light it looks like from the pic that the MH are offset more to one side is this true or is it just the angle of the photo i would appreciate anyone who has this light letting me know about this and about how many inches the mh are in from the sides here is the link im looking at

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lighting_metal_halide_aqua_medic_ocean_light_t5_combo_series.asp?CartId=

[theishkid]

Yea... sorry I sound so bias. It's just that I just now upgraded when I got a new tank and the light is awesome. Not to mention that I was having a small problem with my light and the electrical work in my new house but the people at current were really great about it and told me they would work through it. Mainly it's just so cool to finally see this powerful of light after only having a 96 watt PC over my old tank, and even though the moonlights probably don't have any helping value, they are really cool.
Please keep in mind too that it's not just the outer orbit I am trying to push to you. I only mention them because I just got them and I'm still in my "got something new for my tank look at my big smile" stage. I am mainly just trying to let you know that you don't "need" 250 watt MH's. I am tired of hearing the phrase "you need 250 watt MH's" and, "you can't do that unless you have 250 watt MH's". Like I said before, everyone pushed that you need VHO to do anything two years ago, now it's all about MH's. You can't tell me, especially on a shorter tank like yours that 150's would not be okay. They are at least better than VHO. But all of this is my opinion. Have fun with your tank and get lots of opinions.

[Don Berry]

It's just the angle of the picture. The MH's are spaced evenly on the fixture. You could definetly grow SPS with the 150's, but if you can get 250's for the about the same price why wouldn't you? If you end up getting a larger tank down the road you will be happy you had the 250's. If you run a small fan across the water surface you will not need a chiller. I am able to keep my tank at 80 no problem with out a chiller.