which light should I get?

joeyjoeq

joeyjoeq

Large Fish
#4
Jul 15, 2006
315
1
0
Chicago
#4
I'd say the Orbit because have not heard any bad things from people who own them. Both are good, but depends which style you like. Then again the Coralife you can reuse if you get a bigger tank. Place 2 side by side and then you are good to go. Know what I mean?
 

S

saltwater84

Large Fish
#6
Apr 11, 2006
261
0
0
#6
or should I get the CURRENT USA OUTER ORBIT 36" SUNPOD 300W 18 MOON LIGHTS? It has 2x 150 watts metal halide with 18 moon lights. Is this too much light? Right now, I have a couple of corals that do not require a whole lot of light.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#7
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#7
For a start 2 x 150 over a 3 foot tank is absolute overkill, unless you are going to be going for it with shallow water SPS, zo's, and doing the water maintenance to match, which I am pretty certain you aren't. Even if you were, you'd likely be better off with a single 25o DE anyway, so I think forget the double.

Any of the three will be decent. Really you can forget the actinics as being useful output, watt for watt actinics put out pathetically little PAR compared to bulbs like 6500's or 10K's, and also as you will need to lift the MH at least 10 inches above the water to stop overheating, that will render the actinic PC's even more hopeless. They're there to be a bit pretty, nothing more. Effectively you're comparing MH rigs.

What I would base my decision round is a hard web search on places like the customer review and equipment forums on reefcentral.com, and see if either of them gets good or bum reviews for quality. Also note the outer orbit is an electronic ballast, and the coralife is a tar based I tihnk, so you need to search those reviews to see if they've got the bulbs matched to the ballasts correctl,y, and how easy it is to replace those bulbs with similar or different, and still get good colour/output.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#9
Dec 1, 2003
1,830
0
0
36
Michigan
#9
I would stick with one of the lights that has only one 150 watt halide...with the pcs it gives a nice color balance off....I have seen the coralife fixture on a 58 gallon sps tank and the colors were outstanding,,,so with that personally i would go with coralife but either is fine.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#11
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#11
Okay I can speak from experience. I have the 48" outer orbit and there are a couple of issues that come to mind. The pc's are 130w bulbs which are notoriously hard to get and they don't last long. I replaced both of mine within 6 months. The metal halide 150w are easy to find. The light is extremely heavy and if you aren't going to suspend it then it takes two people to move it. Now the benefits.....great light quality and the fact that the lights are on separate cords and switches makes running timers great. The heat issue isn't too bad as I have mine over eggcrate on a 75g and the fans switch on with the light, nothing another extra clip on fan wouldn't cure. If I had to do it over again I am not sure I would buy this light....due to it's heavy weight, I would probably go with these.....

Aqualight 150 Watt HQI Tank Mount Pendant: Premium Aquatics

I have seen these and they are pretty slick....
 

Seiryoku

Seiryoku

Large Fish
#12
Apr 5, 2006
157
0
0
Woodland, CA
#12
Don't forget about the plastic brace in the center of the 46g bowfront. The coral life fixture has the MH bulb right in the center of the fixture which would go right over the top of the brace. I imagine most of the MH fixtures like those have the bulb in the center.
 

S

saltwater84

Large Fish
#15
Apr 11, 2006
261
0
0
#15
I don't think the middle brace in the middle would be an issue for me since I going to hang the light or buy legs for the light. I want a light that has a complete sun/moon system in it, pedent doesn't have that. The only thing I cocern about the middle brace is that it might crack or melt in the long run since I am sure the halide is going to be extremely hot.


I can't seem to make up my decision, both lights are good. Lets have a vote. Outer orbit or Coralife??
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#16
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#16
Umm a centre brace is a major design flaw, and is totally avoidable.... but if you hve it you have to live with it. I still think 2 MH over a 3 footer is utter overkill for 99% of people, so I would try moving either the light ir the brace to oneside.
Yes the short lifespan of the supplemental PC's is an issue with these, plus the weight of all in one pendants. Personally I recommend 'barebones' MH with ballasts remote from the pendant
 

Seiryoku

Seiryoku

Large Fish
#17
Apr 5, 2006
157
0
0
Woodland, CA
#17
A 46g bowfront is 36" wide as are the light fixtures and the MH bulb is dead center in the fixtures. Even if the fixture is 6" above the tank a large percentage of the light from the MH bulb is going to be blocked by the brace. I don't see how you plan work around it...
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#18
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#18
Move it to the side a couple inches? And anyway it should be more then 6 inches above the tank, around 9 inches from the water surface.
I'm not saying it's ideal, it's a bad tank design, or at least one not ideal for MH, but it strikes me as absolutely ridiculous to require 2 x MH to light a tank of this size. It's cheaper to get a new tank than to light the old one properly.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#19
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#19
Move it to the side a couple inches? And anyway it should be more then 6 inches above the tank, around 9 inches from the water surface.
I'm not saying it's ideal, it's a bad tank design, or at least one not ideal for MH, but it strikes me as absolutely ridiculous to require 2 x MH to light a tank of this size. It's cheaper to get a new tank than to light the old one properly.

Perhaps the solution is to go to T5 rather than MH? Still adequate light for clams form a 4 or 6 wide fixture with parabolic reflectors
 

S

saltwater84

Large Fish
#20
Apr 11, 2006
261
0
0
#20
I don't know, I might have to reconsider, I really wanted the pc+halide+moon light combo all under one hood. The middle brace is not that big and shouldn't block out a huge amount of light especially with the halide because I am current runing a 24inches pc on my tank right now and it seems to do ok with the middle brace.
 

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