vonjankmon
Reefing newb
Ok maybe I'm missing something but in looking around for 6-8 bulb T5 fixtures for my 90 gallon I'm finding a fair bit of variance and was wondering if anyone could explain to me why.
For instance a 48 in. IceCap Reef Illuminations fixture with 6 bulbs and 2 tubular LED moonlights is about $650 dollars. Here
A 48 in AquaticLife T5 6 bulb fixture also with moonlights is about $530. Here
A 48 in Nova Extreme Pro with 6 bulbs is about $360. Here
And a 48 in Tek light fixture with 6 bulbs is about $315. Here
Now I realize that the first two have moon lights but honestly I can buy a set of tubular moonlights and glue it to the fixture for about $50. I'm willing to spend some cash on my new light fixture but at the same time I cannot figure out the 300-250 dollar differences in prices here. Now I am aware that individual reflectors are supposed to be better but I honestly question this assumption. The quality of a reflector is in it's material and shape, if I bend one large piece of metal into the "best" (whatever that is) shape for reflecting 6 lights, how is that different than bending 6 different pieces into individual examples of the "best" shape for reflecting light? Also two of the fixtures have fans, while two don't. Do fans really make that much of a difference on keeping heat away from the tank? My tank has seahorses in it so I keep the temperature at 74 degrees F, the less heat my tank is exposed to, the less my chiller runs and with the new tank going into the basement I might be able to get away without a chiller entirely if I'm lucky and save myself 600-800 dollars, so this is a concern for me.
Experience with any of the lights I'm looking at would be appreciated along with some recommendations. I've done some research online and while IceCap seems to be the Rolls Royce of lighting fixtures I'm not seeing, at least on the surface of looking on the web what I'm getting for an extra 300 dollars over, say the Tek fixture.
For instance a 48 in. IceCap Reef Illuminations fixture with 6 bulbs and 2 tubular LED moonlights is about $650 dollars. Here
A 48 in AquaticLife T5 6 bulb fixture also with moonlights is about $530. Here
A 48 in Nova Extreme Pro with 6 bulbs is about $360. Here
And a 48 in Tek light fixture with 6 bulbs is about $315. Here
Now I realize that the first two have moon lights but honestly I can buy a set of tubular moonlights and glue it to the fixture for about $50. I'm willing to spend some cash on my new light fixture but at the same time I cannot figure out the 300-250 dollar differences in prices here. Now I am aware that individual reflectors are supposed to be better but I honestly question this assumption. The quality of a reflector is in it's material and shape, if I bend one large piece of metal into the "best" (whatever that is) shape for reflecting 6 lights, how is that different than bending 6 different pieces into individual examples of the "best" shape for reflecting light? Also two of the fixtures have fans, while two don't. Do fans really make that much of a difference on keeping heat away from the tank? My tank has seahorses in it so I keep the temperature at 74 degrees F, the less heat my tank is exposed to, the less my chiller runs and with the new tank going into the basement I might be able to get away without a chiller entirely if I'm lucky and save myself 600-800 dollars, so this is a concern for me.
Experience with any of the lights I'm looking at would be appreciated along with some recommendations. I've done some research online and while IceCap seems to be the Rolls Royce of lighting fixtures I'm not seeing, at least on the surface of looking on the web what I'm getting for an extra 300 dollars over, say the Tek fixture.