54 Corner Tank Lighting Help

sthogan · 07/15/2010, 06:10 PM

I have a 54 Corner tank glass with a bow front. It's rather deep.

My lighting has been a ice cap ballast with 4 24" 20 watt bulbs (2 daylight 2 50/50) which is the most the Ice Cap 430 would support. It did fine with softies but couldn't keep the hard stuff.

Well the ballast died again. When I plug it in not even a glimmer of hope. I can send it back get it repaired/replaced for $90-110 by the time you figure shipping to and fro.

It appears I at least need to upgrade to T5's instead of t12 but the 430 will only push two t5 bulbs so I guess two t5's and two t12's mixed is the best I could hope to do with it.

Or I can buy a new 660 for $150. And when my bulbs need replacing I could get new end caps etc and move over to 4 t5's

OR I could look at MH or LED. I like the low engergy consumption of the LED

What would you do?

sthogan · 07/15/2010, 07:37 PM

I was thinking about this MH Pendant. Does anyone know if it includes the ballast?

http://www.petstore.com/Sunlight_Sup...LIFUMH-vi.html

Johnny C · 07/16/2010, 12:03 AM

I wish I had a picture (one pic would convince you) but a LFS uses a 24'' 4-Bulb Tek fixture over his 54 and keeps a gorgous mix of Zoas, LPS & SPS. I'm not sure if the setup you had before was using T5HO bulbs, but I can promise you that the light fixture I linked would work great. JMO!

PS- The MH Pendant you asked about does not include a ballast unfortunatly. Look into the Tek, they are awesome light fixtures!

sthogan · 07/16/2010, 05:14 AM

My previous bulbs were VHO T12 not T5

Johnny C · 07/16/2010, 11:26 AM

Ah, I was a little confused. Anyways- go for the Tek, you can keep a nice mix of everything just fine. Use German bulbs!

07/15/2010, 06:10 PM	#1
sthogan Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 8	54 Corner Tank Lighting Help I have a 54 Corner tank glass with a bow front. It's rather deep. My lighting has been a ice cap ballast with 4 24" 20 watt bulbs (2 daylight 2 50/50) which is the most the Ice Cap 430 would support. It did fine with softies but couldn't keep the hard stuff. Well the ballast died again. When I plug it in not even a glimmer of hope. I can send it back get it repaired/replaced for $90-110 by the time you figure shipping to and fro. It appears I at least need to upgrade to T5's instead of t12 but the 430 will only push two t5 bulbs so I guess two t5's and two t12's mixed is the best I could hope to do with it. Or I can buy a new 660 for $150. And when my bulbs need replacing I could get new end caps etc and move over to 4 t5's OR I could look at MH or LED. I like the low engergy consumption of the LED What would you do?

07/16/2010, 12:03 AM	#3
Johnny C Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 4,140	I wish I had a picture (one pic would convince you) but a LFS uses a 24'' 4-Bulb Tek fixture over his 54 and keeps a gorgous mix of Zoas, LPS & SPS. I'm not sure if the setup you had before was using T5HO bulbs, but I can promise you that the light fixture I linked would work great. JMO! PS- The MH Pendant you asked about does not include a ballast unfortunatly. Look into the Tek, they are awesome light fixtures! __________________ "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever" -Jacques Cousteau

07/16/2010, 11:26 AM	#5
Johnny C Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 4,140	Ah, I was a little confused. Anyways- go for the Tek, you can keep a nice mix of everything just fine. Use German bulbs! __________________ "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever" -Jacques Cousteau

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07/15/2010, 07:37 PM	#2
sthogan Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 8	I was thinking about this MH Pendant. Does anyone know if it includes the ballast? http://www.petstore.com/Sunlight_Sup...LIFUMH-vi.html

07/16/2010, 05:14 AM	#4
sthogan Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 8	My previous bulbs were VHO T12 not T5