Power Compact or T5......
- Thread starter will28730
- Start date
saltfan
Active Member
Originally Posted by Will28730
Alright someone please explaine what the big craze is about T5 lights. Don't it take alot more of the T5's to get the same WPG ratio you get off of the PC. I have 2 x 96W PC's now, what is the advantage of switching over to the T5's?
Instead of 2 96w PC you would have to use 4 T-5's. Supposedly they are better. Not convinced here yet.....I have seen them...One guy has a 72" unit....With 16 Lamps
And I have 4, looks the same to me...
Instead of 2 96w PC you would have to use 4 T-5's. Supposedly they are better. Not convinced here yet.....I have seen them...One guy has a 72" unit....With 16 Lamps
reefforbrains
Active Member
Dont forget Bulbs in T5 last up to 2 years while PC is about 8-12 months.
http://www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm#S-2
Some light reading........
http://www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm#S-2
Some light reading........
wangotango
Active Member
Originally Posted by Will28730
I will agree about the bulbs, the cost of the PC stink, yet replacing twice as many T5's it's gotta be close to the same.
yes, but you're doing it 1/2 as often. T5 have better par hands down, there is no argument there. any amount of power compact will not give you the growth and color of T5.
-Justin
I will agree about the bulbs, the cost of the PC stink, yet replacing twice as many T5's it's gotta be close to the same.
yes, but you're doing it 1/2 as often. T5 have better par hands down, there is no argument there. any amount of power compact will not give you the growth and color of T5.
-Justin
thangbom
Active Member
ok people got to stop using this 'WPG' thing.. that is not it at all... it's the par/lux that counts.... just think this.. WPG.... lets say you have a 1000watts of pc over a 30'' tank.. do you think the pc have enough Punch to reach the bottom to keep lps happy?? dont think so.. but if you put a 400 watt MH then thats plenty...
now about this t5ho thing.. t5ho have more of this Punch then VHO and 'can' have almost as much Punch as 250 MH... that why there is such a 'fuss' about them.. t5ho in good reflector use less watts and have more Punch on there spec ballast and can give a bigger PUNCH if overdriven ( like if you have 4' 54watt t5ho and overdrive them with a IC660 ballast bumping it from 54 watts to 80 watts, thats how you can get thim to be on the MH lvl ) not only that but they run cooler then PC's and last longer... saving you $$$ in bulb replacments ( you would changet5ho 1x for ever 2x w/pc so just saving ## on replacing blulbs is a big saving ) and electric..
just to give you a idea of the difference in liging i had zoos 10'' under my water surface with pc just to get them to do ok.. with the switch out from pc's to t5's i had to move them down to my sandbed to be happy... thats another 12'' lower then what they where...
another thing about t5 is that you have such a big selection of bulbs to choose from... what do that mean?? well .. you get to control the color of your tank that much easier ( i know you all have asked 'what light are you using ' and refering to the color ) now the make a good thing great!! the placement of the bulbes further changes your tank color.. like if you want your tank more blue.. then you would just put the blueer bulb in front.. or if you just want a dash of blue then you would put the blue bulb in the middle/back...
the thing with t5ho is that they heed good reflectors to be good... like sls 1 reflector or ic slr's ( nova should not even be an option ) good reflectors can reflect 300% of the bulbs light back to your tank and not elswhere..
YzGyz
now about this t5ho thing.. t5ho have more of this Punch then VHO and 'can' have almost as much Punch as 250 MH... that why there is such a 'fuss' about them.. t5ho in good reflector use less watts and have more Punch on there spec ballast and can give a bigger PUNCH if overdriven ( like if you have 4' 54watt t5ho and overdrive them with a IC660 ballast bumping it from 54 watts to 80 watts, thats how you can get thim to be on the MH lvl ) not only that but they run cooler then PC's and last longer... saving you $$$ in bulb replacments ( you would changet5ho 1x for ever 2x w/pc so just saving ## on replacing blulbs is a big saving ) and electric..
just to give you a idea of the difference in liging i had zoos 10'' under my water surface with pc just to get them to do ok.. with the switch out from pc's to t5's i had to move them down to my sandbed to be happy... thats another 12'' lower then what they where...
another thing about t5 is that you have such a big selection of bulbs to choose from... what do that mean?? well .. you get to control the color of your tank that much easier ( i know you all have asked 'what light are you using ' and refering to the color ) now the make a good thing great!! the placement of the bulbes further changes your tank color.. like if you want your tank more blue.. then you would just put the blueer bulb in front.. or if you just want a dash of blue then you would put the blue bulb in the middle/back...
the thing with t5ho is that they heed good reflectors to be good... like sls 1 reflector or ic slr's ( nova should not even be an option ) good reflectors can reflect 300% of the bulbs light back to your tank and not elswhere..
YzGyz