Lighting

[nca989]

I'm a little confused on my lighting and I was hoping someone could help me out. I have a Coralife 53008 basically 2x65 50/50 bulbs, and a Helios T5 38W? Is this good lighting? The 38W thing appears brighter or different light than the 50/50's and I don't know whether it's worth having it up there or not. Also I'm working on adding a strip of blue leds for "moon light", how many leds will light the tank sufficiently without disrupting the critters?

 

[reefkprz]

the T5 is a high output bulb. they are good. they have to be replaced every 6-8months becasue they burnout fast. the 50/50 bulbls arent that great. you would be better off with one solid 10K and one solid actinic bulb. haveing both types of gas in one bulb makes them less efficient. Sorry to be the bearer of bad new. (keep in mind that this is just my opinion from my expirience and others may have different opinions but I hope this helps some)

 

[nca989]

Thanks ReefkprZ I was starting to get that drift from other posts but wasn't sure. I'm considering returning the 50/50 and getting something else, I've just gotta figure out what. I've also noticed that the compact Fl. bulbs for the coralife are a little on the expensive side compared to the other bulbs on the market.

 

[michaeltx]

PC bulbs last longer than normal, HO, and VHO bulbs so the cost is once a year or so. I like the PC bulbs for the daylight aspect and the HO and VHO for the atinic bulbs. there are a lot of different manufactures of PC bulbs some are cheaper than others. have you look at retrofit kits they require a canopy or something to house them but you can get them much cheaper that way.
Just another option.
Mike

 

[nca989]

The T5 I have is a retrofit, which at this point since I have one I might as well finish my lighting with retro's and just build something to put them in. I'm thinking it wouldn't be that hard, and just adding some ventilation and a few high output computer fans would be enough. If I were to go getting really fancy I could always setup one of those CPU cooling units in the lighting house, but that sounds a little ambitious for today...