A lighting question

kewast

kewast

New Member
Hi there,
I'm a beginner and while I have a lot of questions, this is the biggie right now. I have a 65 gallon aquarium. the aquarium is around 24 inches deep. I plan to do live rock, fish, and some easy corals. Am I better off with 384 watts (96 x 4) of a Compact Flourescent retrofit or 312 watts (8 x 39) with a T5 retrofit?
Thanks
 
kewast

kewast

New Member
Hi there,
One more question please. For my 65 gallon with live rock, fish, and easy corals, would a quad 95 VHO retro do the trick?
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
Originally Posted by kewast
Hi there,
One more question please. For my 65 gallon with live rock, fish, and easy corals, would a quad 95 VHO retro do the trick?
380watts for a 65g, easily will do it for you.
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
I don't like the bulb comparison in wattage, lumens we can't see, and they aren't great enough in our use that its gonna make a hill of a difference, unless you are gonna use 16 T-5 Lamps. Anyways, T-5 come in wierd watt sizes, but the max is 54watts, being that your gonna put 4 lamps into a 48" fixture versus 2 lamps in a VHO. Or if you were to put the same number of VHO in a 48", ver T-5, they don't compare. The only thing about a T-5 lamp that I like is that their life span is supposed to be 2 years. Our eyes can't distinguish the lumens part of it, but Very High Output ver High Output, hmm, when I went to school Very High was above High on the scales we used to look at. But you have to look at bulbs watts and usage vers what you are planning. I would still use VHO in a coral arena, if I didn't have MH. I would not use T-5. THey do'nt make em in say a 72" length. 2 VHO - 160watts ea. ver T-5 would need 8 lamps at 34watts with 2 36" fixtures for a 72" tank. Making any sense here?
 
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