Sunblaze t5 fixture review

 I thought I'd add some thoughts on my new  Sunblaze T5 light fixture from Sunlight supply company. I purchased this light from Premium Aquatics for around $150 after shipping and tax, which I think is an excellent price. This light is Bright! Most of the reviews I found on this light were in Marijuana Pot Growing Forums, but there were a few on some of the Reef forums. I also think this light is used to light my local hockey rink and those have been up and running since the mid 90s. I took my chances on this light and I'm happy with what I got so far. It was either this light or a Tek Light. My guess is that the tek would be a little better, but the cost wouldn't. I have read that it contains the same reflectors as the tek light, but I can't confirm this. It is well made and has better individual reflectors than my Current Nova Extreme Pro. The light is fairly wide and the bulbs are spread further apart than my nova pro light, which works well on the tank it's going on 48Lx24wx12H.  It does look like more of a shop light and although it looks good in the back room of my basement I don't know that it would be all that nice looking in a living room or out in the open. I did replace the stock bulbs with two ATI blue+ UVL Actinic White, and then I've been changing the 4th bulb in and out and I have a Marine Glo blue bulb which is slightly different from my ati blue bulbs. 

There are three downsides to this light, but they are probably reflected in the price.

  1. No acrylic shield
  2. No internal fan
  3. Only one plug, so you can't do a dusk to dawn setup. I'm not sure if this has a major effect on the coral. I need to do some reading up on that. 
  4. The bulbs are far apart, which is good for covering more area, but I'm not sure if all the colors of the bulbs can come together to form a complete spectrum. I hope that makes sense....