help with new lighting

[freakaholic]

hi, im starting a 55gal tank and would like to know how to light it. i want to put live rock and some corals in it. nothing to exspensive just to learn and to look good.
right now the tank that was given to me is acrylic and came with two florescent 48'' bulbs 2 t-12's and a ballast. so please a lil help on a quick easy CHEAP way to light it.. remember im new to this. thanks

[gregony]

a 4 lamp T5HO fixture should work fine for anything but the most light hungry corals. A 6-lamp would work for those, but I think a 48" 55 gallon is only 12" wide, so I don't think it will fit, unless you suspend it from the ceiling. That's pretty nice, getting a free acrylic tank though. There's a whole bunch of places that sell T5HO fixtures, a whole bunch of people that make them, and a 4 lamp unit is really common (probably has something to do with the 55 gallon being the most common 48" tank). Current USA makes one with built in timers. Finnex makes an affordable one with LED's for shimmering effect. Geisemenn, well, you said cheap so probably no Geisemann.

[freakaholic]

i found this on ebay for $95.95...should i buy it?????
48" T5 Quad Deluxe 216W Marine Version(4x 54W)
Excellent for marine, reef, and cichlid aquariums.
Fixture comes with 2x 12000K and 2x Actinic Blue lamps.
Features:

• Dimensions - 47.50” x 7.25” x 2.75”
• Brackets add 2.75" in height
• Supports 4x 54W T5 High Output lamps
• Supports 4x Bluemoon LED
• Supports standard T5 lamps
• 216W total power
• Individual power cords for each function
• Black, non corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
• Non-corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
• Highly polished reflector
• Cooling Fan
• Mounting brackets flips up for convenience
• CE Certified

Listing includes:

• 1x 48" T5 Quad fixture
• 1x Mounting Bracket (Free Item*)
• 2x 54W T5 HO lamps 12000K (Free Item*)
• 2x 54W T5 HO lamps Actinic Blue (Free Item*)
• 4x LED (Free Item*)

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/topdogse...ad_400x700.jpg

[gregony]

That's actually so cheap it's kinda of scary. If its Odyssea I've read that the 48" bulbs are actually a different size than all the others and that they don't perform up to snuff. Everywhere else I've looked, fixtures like this are at least twice that. I'd say for the price it might be worth the risk, if it wasn't for the fact that you'd hate to burn your house down saving $150 on a light fixture for an aquarium. (I nearly burnt my house down with a $7 can opener from Wally World - from now on I use a manual one.) Most people on this forum would advise against a product so much cheaper than everything else, unless there's a legitimate reason why its so cheap.
The Plusrite metal halides for instance are $13 online, which is absurdly cheap compared to Ushio, XM, etc., but not when you consider regular metal halide bulbs (the 4K ones) are about that price, and it wouldn't cost a big manufacturer from China - like Plusrite - any more to run a line of 14K and 20K for a week (which would be probably be more than enough to supply the aquarium industry for a year or more) than it would to make the 4K ones. Remember, people in China have aquariums too, and they don't want to pay what it would cost to get a Japanese, German, or American bulb. That would be an example of a legitimate reason for absurd cheapness.
But, in this case....
Who makes the T5 fixture? Who makes the bulbs you would get with it? And my old Japanese boss' favorite, "why it so cheapuh?" You can ask the seller these questions in the seller question field.
Note that there are T5 ballasts that are made cheaply, that operate in such a way that they reduce the T5HO's normal lifespan by quite a bit.
Everywhere I've looked, the cheapest T5HO bulbs I've found have been around $10 a piece. For a four light fixture that's $40 just in bulbs. And he's just throwing them in?
If the deal is real though, that would probably be as close to perfect a fixture as you could get for a 55 gallon. You already got pretty lucky with a free acrylic tank.

BTW A CE MARK MEANS NOTHING IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!! A manufacturer certifies a product is compliant with all applicable regulations when selling to EU countries. The manufacturer sends a paper saying "I swear it won't interfere with your cell phone and whatever else I need to swear to so I can make my Benz payment", and puts a CE mark on the product and off it goes. If the EU catches an infraction they fine the snot out of the seller, which may or may not be the manufacturer. Your odds of getting caught selling out of compliance low volume items like aquarium lighting fixtures are almost nil. Reputable manufacturers pay thousands of dollars for an independent lab - TUV, CSA, or UL to evaluate their product for safety in the application it is intended for. And even then, without the actual "conditions for use" at your disposal, you don't know what caveats were included that approval. "Your product is approved for aquarium use so long as it isn't salt water" could very well be one of those caveats. You wouldn't know unless you read them. Some Chinese companies actually label their products with TUV, UL, or CSA marks without approval - you may recall the Christmas lights that burned down people's houses in the 1990s; still, insisting on TUV, UL, or CSA approved electrical devices is some assurance.
Sorry, got a little carried away.
For reference - in order to legally sell electrical devices in the EU you have to prove, via a certified body, (which is TUV Product Service, UL, CSA, and a very few others) that your product complies with all EU regulations that apply to its intended use. So if you make and sell an aquarium lighting fixture in the EU, you would HAVE to certify it for use as such, and you would have to be able to prove, via a CB report (from a certified body .... and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... huh what oh, in short if it isn't TUV, UL, or CSA certified, it probably isn't legally CE marked.

[Parrothead]

The 6 bulb T-5 setup will fit over a 55, I'm in the process of rebuilding my 55 reef, and you can get a 6 bulb fixture over it, here are the dim. of the Nova Extreme Pro
48" x 12" x 4.25", also lighting is one of the most important pieces of hardware that you will buy for your reef, don't go cheap on it or buy a cheap fixture, you are just now setting up your tank, it will be several months before you are ready to starting adding any corals, use this time to save a few bucks to get a good light, and to learn more about the hobby, I would recommend going to the reef forum and read the sticky at the top, it will answer alot of your questions, as well as being an excellent guide, Good Luck and Welcome to Reeflands, I'm around if I can help

Tanks,
Robert

[gregony]

Freakaholic,
I found the fixture you speak of on E-Bay and I'm pretty sure its an Odyssea. They bother me a bit, because their online storefront www.aquatraders.com is intermittently operational, and their stuff is sold by guys who in the location field on E-Bay put down a nonsensicle location. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could buy a fixture like this for that amount of money and have it work reliably? I don't think it will though. Like Parrothead, I use a 36" Nova Extreme Pro and it is a very nice light. In fact, it was considered a cheapy at $300 when it first came out. T5HO's had and still have a lot of naysayers. I hear Finnex makes a good T5 fixture for a reasonable price. Everyone always says not to skimp on the lighting, and its good advice. What would be really awesome is if Consumer Reports would evaluate light fixtures for aquariums so that you could truly compare apples to apples, but its probably not going to happen.
Not being able to count on your light fixture stinks. If you absolutely, positively cannot afford one of the more reputable manufacturers, you could try the cheapo, it may work, it may not. I've read some very good reviews on Odyssea's stuff, but I've read a lot of bad ones. If your light goes bad a couple of years from now, and you've got $300 worth of coral in your tank, It may be impossible to get a new fixture in time to save your livestock. But for God's sakes, if you go with it, keep an eye on the AC plugs. If the ballast starts to fail, it will most likely begin arcing there. If it arcs in the fixture, its got nowhere to go so even if the ballast catches fire it probably wouldn't threaten your structure. But the outlet's another story. That sort of problem burns people's houses down. Also, feel the power cords for heat going to the fixture after its been on for an hour or more. The Chinese are notorius for using too small a gauge of wire, particularly on front ends. No matter what fixture you buy the AC inlet wiring should never get hot. That goes for any appliance. In fact, if I were to buy one of those I would probably take the whole thing apart and go over it with a fine tooth comb, but then I know what I'm looking for. I don't know what level of electronics knowledge you have. If you don't have any, hopefully you have a friend that does.
They're so cheap, I do sympathize with your temptation.

[CutthroatKid]

I have read plenty of bad reviews on Odyssea, but I got one because of the price. So far no problems, but that is just my experience. I would suggest getting a quality light if you can afford it, since I'm paranoid about this one lighting the place on fire.
It's like Charlie used to tell me all the time, this hobby ain't cheap! Save a bit of money and get a quality light.