lighting a 5g

[S13<3]

just got a nice deep blue 5g and i cant find a affordable light that would work, 2x24" would hang 4" on each side of the tank , par38 seems to powerfull and too expensive, 70w mh is gonna toast everything, um what do i do? is ther such thing as a dual t5 setup smaller then 24"? i cant find anything

[wildman926]

Yes, Current USA has 2 bulb 18" T5 Nova Extreme fixtures.

[spollock818]

I guess it would depend on what you plan to put in it, right?

[S13<3]

its a pico frag tank, its been running for 5 months in a plastic tub with leathers, mushrooms, xenia, and gsp under a clamp lamp with a spiral compact flourecent, everthing was transfered to the new tank and is doing great but i want to start keeping some sps in ther like digitada's, so i need better lighting, the 18w and 6w are the only 2 small fixtures i saw, but theyre not popular sizes and not the easiest or cheapest bulbs, so its kind of a huge turnoff, im not sure what other options i can use here :/

[WingoLED]

What about using MR16 LED reef bulbs? They come in 4x1W and 3x2W? You upgrade to higher wattage by adding more bulbs later.


BTW, how to post a pic here?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5175109...57626054771511
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5175109...57626054771511

[spieszak]

I'm pretty happy with the eco pico led strips running on my eco pico 5 gallon.. don't know how they'd do with anything needing high light requirements though. I have a kenya, some zoas, mushrooms, gsp and a leather all doing really well.

[spieszak]

Originally Posted by spieszak

I'm pretty happy with the eco pico led strips running on my eco pico 5 gallon.. don't know how they'd do with anything needing high light requirements though. I have a kenya, some zoas, mushrooms, gsp and a leather all doing really well.

FYI - I have 3 of the 50/50, and one blue running.. so its not the "stock" lighting.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by spieszak

I'm pretty happy with the eco pico led strips running on my eco pico 5 gallon.. don't know how they'd do with anything needing high light requirements though. I have a kenya, some zoas, mushrooms, gsp and a leather all doing really well.

The EcoPico strips are great little lights. They will house low light corals just fine but I wouldn't even entertain the thought of any SPS.

I took some PAR readings on mine and they are weak but get the job done.

Here is a link to my thread on them:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2030577

I plan to add 2 more strips to increase the PAR a little bit.

[KafudaFish]

I know you said the par 38 is too powerful but I have mine 10 inches off the surface of my 5.5 and it is zoa only.

Also in a year you will spend $40 on bulbs plus I am running 21 watts so my tank costs me less than $5 per month in electric. That includes filters too.

[zenpytho]

+1 on par38 bulb

[S13<3]

i looked into the ecopico strips and enough to get what i want is gonna prob cost more than the par38, im about half way sold on the par38, i found it for $65+ shipping its dimmable and has a remote to dim it lol, pretty sweet

now what i would like to know so i can finally settle on the par38 is whats the spread of the light? whats the biggest tank i can light with a single par38 and still be able to keep sps? i do plan on upgrading the tank in a few months to something shallow with a nice footprint, maybe i can keep the sps directly under the light and then lps then softies around the edges of the tank, something like that

[S13<3]

Originally Posted by KafudaFish

I know you said the par 38 is too powerful but I have mine 10 inches off the surface of my 5.5 and it is zoa only.

Also in a year you will spend $40 on bulbs plus I am running 21 watts so my tank costs me less than $5 per month in electric. That includes filters too.

would u be so kind as to post a pic of your tank and specs on the light, is it dimmable, how bright u have yours set(if its dimmable), i dont really know too much about the lights other than ppl really like them and theyre not super expensive

[S13<3]

bump can anyone plz post pics of ther par38
also does anyone have experience with this one http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/...&productId=702
is it a good buy?

[S13<3]

anyone?