Coralife 30" double T5

[worrballer]

Has anyone had any experience with these fixtures? I found a smokin' deal on one and am wondering if I should get it.
It says T5 so I don't think its T5HO but can I replace the bulbs? I don't really know too much about the new T5s.

 

[wangotango]

I don't think those Coralife units use T5ho bulbs, and that fixture cannot power them either.
-Justin

 

[worrballer]

Dang, okay but can t5 still support corals? LPS and softies is what I'm looking to keep. Maybe a sebea.

 

[05xrunner]

yes if its a T5HO with individual reflectors on the bulbs..and also depends on teh tank size if you need 4,6 or 8 bulbs

 

[worrballer]

I'm talking about the regular t5's in the "coralife aqualight t-5 double linear strip"

Or are these just energy efficient PC's

 

[pumper]

That set is good to supplement halides.... If you use that over corals it's kinda like pretending you have sufficient lighting. Although they might support zoos and assorted polyps. I wouldn't expect to see any substantial growth.

 

[pumper]

Oh, that light you have posted will not support a sebea anemone.

 

[pumper]

May work on a very small tank.

 

[worrballer]

30 gallons *crosses fingers*

 

[pumper]

well, the 30 inch light set would provide 34 watts total, so that would be 1.13 watts per gallon. My reef tank has 2 150 watt halides and 4 t8 actinics for a total of 428 watts on a 55 gal, thats 7.78 watts per gallon. I think the lights you are looking at are underpowered. If you want to keep a reef, i'd shoot for around 5 watts per gallon. I think.

 

[pumper]

I tried to go cheap when I first started, trust me. Go ahead and get sufficient lighting.

 

[05xrunner]

no that wont keep anything other then some zoathinds and even them might not even have the best color with that...Thats basically for a fish only tank not geared towards corals

 

[pumper]

Yeah, prolly work good on a fw tank with some wussie ciclids.

 

[worrballer]

Freshwater ftl
Thanks guys I'll steer clear of them. What about dual T5HO. is that enough for a 30g?
Oh and PCs is that the same deal as regular t5s?

 

[pumper]

Get a t5ho unit that has an icecap 430 ballast. That should be plenty.I think around 160 watts. Will be in the 250.00 range. Also the 430 ballast is universal. It will run any flourecent

 

[worrballer]

LOL thats a price jump of close to $200 from what I was looking at.
I guess there is no way of doing cheap lighting on a reef aquarium. Well... there is but it'd be... cheap...

 

[05xrunner]

hello lights has a 48" T5HO individual reflector light with 4bulbs for $150..comes with bulbs..granted it would be bigger then your tank..but they only have 24" and 48" no 36"
I have the 24" and its a great light and the price cant be beat..its a direct copy of teh TEK T5HO light fixture

 

[worrballer]

05xrunner could you pm me a link?
Okay let me get this straight; is it more important to get the wattage per gallon or is the type of light more important?
My thoughts were that it is the type of light (meaning different output). For instance I thought 70w of MH would be better than 96w of T5HO or 96w of T5HO is better than 130w of PC or am I wrong?
Cause I could get 4x24 T5 HO (96 watts) or a 2x65 PC (130 watts). To me I thought that T5HO was the way to go but if watts is the only thing that is important then i'll go with the PCs.
I'd appreciate any help on this.

 

[05xrunner]

watts dont mean anything..96watts of T5HO individual reflectors BLOWS AWAY a 130w PC fixture.a 70w MH would kill a 130 PC fixture..watts dont really mean anyhting.

 

[worrballer]

I didn't think so. But someone told me a reef needs to have about 5 watts per gallon. Awesome, thanks man.