lighting question

my friend has a 48 gallon tank and wants to do his lighting for under a 100 dollars. he's trying to do a reef tank.
he's looking at ebay cuz it's cheaper... his tank is 30inches but he wants a 24" fixture that's adjustable due to the availability of bulbs here.
anyway... i'll link you what he's looking at... is it worth it? will it work? any suggestions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/24-30-T5-HO-Aquarium-Light-Hood-Cichlid-Marine-96W-/300517702069?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f84039b5

Looks sort of flimsy. If he does go for it I would suggest some sort of little fan to disperse the heat. I doesn't come with a fan. Cheap fixture are well known to catch on fire.

in a 50 gallon tank you should have 6-8 watts per gallon for reef. I am a fan of metal halides 20000k. I have 400 watt ones . I like the bluer light for my anemones and fish it look smore like an ocean to me. The t5 setup is good if he is starting out and going to stay with fish only it would be a great light.This actually fixture does not have afan and does look a lil flimsy. Don't go cheap with salt or anything you get what you pay for. When i mean cheap i mean build quality always try to save money. If he wants a whiter lighter 10000k bluer 20000k. You can have anenomes with this light but a halide would be better. I really think lights are one of the most important features to health next to a skimmer. You might also want to look into pendants led or even a halide hqi they have them 24 inches. A lill more but well worth it. You will be replacing bulbs more in the t5 and once a year with halides. He really needs to think of what he wants as his final livestock for his tank. There are a lot of led sites online for you to buy and build your own.

there are plenty of lights avalailable online. i just spent $100 for lights on a 20gallon (4 x 24" lights ). I would expect to pay double or even more for a larger set up.

thats why u have house insurance to cover the fire damage lololololol

yep. i've been using candles to light my tanks. lol.

flappyfish wrote:

yep. i've been using candles to light my tanks. lol.

LMFAO

I use the current sundial 30" 4x24w t5 ho fixture. t5 bulb life (with fans) is right at 12 months unless you're overdriving the bulbs. Halides will give better water penetration in this instance, but have a higher long term cost of ownership, and can cause heat problems. The new LED systems are expensive if bought completed, but a single pendant can be had for about what a good t5 setup would be in DIY kit form. If you're comfortable with soldering this is probably the way to go.