Cali Kid Corals

48" 6 bulb aquatinics solarflare/ Good Price?

SoulFish

SoulFish

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Hi guys I need a good T5 light for my standard 90. I'm going to see a guy that has a 6 bulb 48" aquatinics solarflare. He's selling it for $375 with some older bulbs. Is this a good light, is this a good price? I'm still a noob, so please help me out on this, good deal or should I pass?

He also said it's a VHO 85w (Icecap) instead of the standard 54w one.
 
so is $375 a good price for this unit?

I guess that means the bulbs will burn out faster, this should be plenty of light for a standard 90 gallon right?

Are there any know issues with this unit, IE starts fires, etc? This is a good brand to get right?
 
I think it good T5 fixture. It uses an icecap 660 on the 4 bulbs and 430 on the other 2 bulbs. But it will overdrive your bulbs, though. I think that is what he meant by 85w -- your T5 54w bulbs is overdriven to 85w.
 
It's a good quality fixture, made by Aquactinics; six T5 will be good enough for a 90 specially if over driven. As far as price, grab it !!
 
Saw it tonight, it looked fair, had more wear on it for only be used 3 months. My gut told me to pass on it. If it was in better condition I would have gotten it. But for almost $400 and the dents and dings in it, I should get a new one. That way I know where it's been and how old it is. I think I'll just save another $100 and for 400-500 I can get a quality T5 set up.

That being said maybe Tek 6x or if I can afford a ATI. The ATI is a bit more $$ not sure if they are worth the extra $$. What dod you guys think? Any better 6x bulbs 48" set ups I should consider?
 
3 months old shouldn't show any wear. If it is, it's older than that or the owner didn't take care their stuff. I think you made a right decision.
 
You can get a cheaper 6 bulbs T5 TEK fixture here for only $319.

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/tek-light-324w-6500k-30000-lumens-4ft-t5-fluorescent-grow-light-p-1922.html
 
thanks guys, looked at that plant site url posted above, those bulbs wouldn't really work right? So I'd also have to figure another $150 for reef bulbs I assume right?
 
Soulfish you are right. At most you could probably use 2 of the bulbs. (6500k) Any more than that and the tank will look too yellow. Also, I believe the fixture Perry listed only has one power cord. Ideally you would want 2 cords to give you some control over just actinic lighting on the start and end of the light cycle.
 
I remember I asked them before about the 8x bulbs T5 and they said it has 2 cord. Not sure if that is the same with 6x bulb model. U might wanna just give the a call. This is a much cheaper solution that ATI.
 
There are two versions of TEK lights, the "aquarium" version has 2 cords and normally is a lot more expensive than the non-aquarium version. All of them have two switches.
 
Yeah talked to those guys at the plant place, only had one cord.

So I ended up ordering from Reef Geek. I told the guy I liked the bluish look, but still wanted good growth and I don't want a dark tank thats all blue. I also wanted to have the reds to look nice. So her recommended the following bulb set:

4 Blue Plus
1 Fiji Purple
1 GE 6,500k

The housing is a 48" 6x54w Tek, with the splash guard.

What do you guys think of that bulb choice? I may still be able to change them out 1st thing in the morning before it ships. But he said thats a good bluish bulb combo. He said thats a 20k light range? Is that really way too Blue? I don't want to wash out all the other colors in hte tank, especially the reds/Greens. Want to pull out the colors of my Mystery Wrasse :)

What do you guys think?
 
Hey Soulfish based on your info on the Solar Flare, can you send pm me the guy's info?
I'd like to see the fixture, the 48" light is what I need for a tank I have waiting in the basement.
Post pictures on your tank to see the color if possible.

Thx
 
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