New Coralife Aqualight High Output lighning?

[12 Volt Man]

Hello all, has anyone tried these new coralife Aqualight High Output fixtures yet?

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...llampfixture36

I have a 65g planted tank currently with two 30" normal output T5 double strips (72w total) and I was looking to upgrade the lighting. its just not as bright as I expected. I am limited to around 80-90w of power due to my other tanks in my basement, and I was thinking that the high output fixture might be my best bet. the link I posted is the saltwater version, but I believe these new fixtures come in a freshwater version as well (1 6700k, 1 colormax).

will 78w of hight output lighting be worth the upgrade over 72w of normal output?

any experiences? thanks.


here is a pic of the tank currently.

 

[12 Volt Man]

you can see that the T5 30" light fixtures do not give that great coverage over the 36x18" tank. I think I definately need something that is at least as long as the tank.

 

[JDub7771]

Hmm.. I would be careful with growing algae with thos lights, if you don't have enough co2. To be on the safe side, I would run the NO T5's until the plants grow out nice and thick, or add more plants. Tank looks good. If you put those vals in the back, they'll look nice in time.

 

[12 Volt Man]

your right.

I was thinking that when I get the new light (if I do) I would need to add more plants or wait until the Val fills in. its sending out lots of runners now, so it is multiplying quickly.

 

[fish junkie]

First of all your tank looks awesome . How or what are you supplying to the tank as far as ferts,co2,etc? I bought a 36" coralife double strip compact fluorescent 2x96 watt 6700 k bulbs for my 46 gallon bow front its probably way to bright for your tank but i think they make the same model with a single strip so it would be 96 watts for your tank so basically 1.5 per gallon ill try to throw a link up in a sec

 

[fish junkie]

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...fefreshwateraqualight36powercompactlight1x96w

 

[12 Volt Man]

First of all your tank looks awesome . How or what are you supplying to the tank as far as ferts,co2,etc?

thanks. right now, just a 50g dose of Seachem comprehensive fertilizer each week, and a half of a root tab (sera brand) for the little melon sword.

I am leaning towards the coralife HO fixture over the also recommended Nova Extreme fixture because people have commented that the Nova fixture has a fairly noisey fan..