Lighting Questions

[Pedin]

I am looking into proper lighting for my 29 gallon, (30"x12"x18"), and I noticed the new style Coralife Lunar Aqualight CF 2x65W and the Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5 4x31W.  They appear to have very similar specs.  Is there an advantage of one over the other, as the T5 fixture is slightly more expensive?

Would the light be protected enough, or will I need a glass top for my tank?

And lastly, does anyone have any experience with these lights, and has anyone seen them for sale locally?  I would like to eventually get into LPS and SPS corals, so I want to make sure I have enough lighting.  One shop is trying to sell me the Marineland Reef Capable LED lighting, but from what I've read, it has mixed reviews.

If anyone has any recommendations for something similar, I'd be open to suggestions.  I do like the idea of the Lunar capabilities of the Coralife.

Thanks,
Peter

[Greatwhite]

I'd recommend against CF lighting for a couple reasons...
1) bulbs are becoming hard to find, and very expensive
2) they really don't get the reflection of a T5, which mean - less light
3) no real variety in light spectrum like you can get with T5....

I don't have any experience with the Coralife T5s, but my previous fixture was a Coralife CF 48". It was reliable, and "OK" in spite of the points above.  And yes, the lunar LEDs are fantastic.

If you can swing it, though - look at TEK lights.  They have better cooling, which extends the life of  your bulbs.

(or if you can REALLY swing it, go LED and never change a bulb again!!!) 

Don't put a glass top on your tank, because it prevents some evaporation and gas exchange as well as reflecting and blocking (with salt/algae buildup) some of the light.  You'll need to  pay attention to your water levels and top up as needed with fresh water...

[bt]

The newest generation of Marineland Reef Capable LEDs gets decent reviews.  Not great, but decent.  Enough to handle LPS, and properly placed SPS (under one of the white LEDs).

[Pedin]

Thanks for the advice thus far.  I suspected I shouldn't use a glass top.  Plus, I would think it would be a pain to keep clean of salt spray!

bt - you mention the "newest generation of Marineland Reef Capable LEDs."  Are they already on a second or third generation?  Many of the reviews I have read complain of not being good enough for most SPS.  Considering I currently don't have any, it's not a problem.  However I would like to know I am ready for pretty well anything in the future.  I must admit that I really like the slim profile of these, and despite a lot of people complaining about Marineland products, I find they have excellent customer support.

The other problem with the LEDs by Marineland is that my tank is 30" across, which means I would have to go with their 24" unit.  I wish they made one that would fit my tank properly without having to pull out their extension arms to span the distance.  And then there's that darn single cord and switch for day/night illumination...

[elk]

yeah thats the only thing preventing me from buying one as well because of the single cord.

[bt]

I don't know for sure what generation they're on now, but there's a definite difference in tone between reviews and discussions from a year ago, and reviews and discussions from the past few months.  Several recent discussions have mentioned to buy new to not get the 1st gen units.

Most do still say that the moonlighting setting is too bright, and is best just not used.