T5 HO lighting confusion

[peglet]

I am wondering about T5 HO lighting. What is the difference between Nova Extreme T5 and TEK T5, other than the price. Are the TEK's a better light or are you just buying the brand? I would like to purchase some T5 HO lights but not sure what to buy. I don't want to buy Nova Extreme and find out they are junk. Can anybody help me out here. I will be putting them on a 100 gallon tank along with my MH hqi light. I just wanted to add additional lights cause I have a 55 gallon tank now and this one is bigger and I don't want to be under lighted. I have sps, lps, softies, zoos, mushrooms and a couple of fish. Thanks for any help.

 

[thangbom]

the main thing w/ t5 lighting is the size of the bulb and good reflector... rough breakdown..
t5 ho = t5 ( bulbs size .. t5 is about 1/2 inch diam bulb.. t8 are about 3/4 inch bulb.. t12 is about 1 1/4 inch diam) then HO = high output.. ( as in stronger than normal .. but more!! )
now the more technical stuff..
imagin a bulb laying horizontally and lit.. not.. only 180 deg of that bulb is actually shining downward.. and 180 is seeming wasted.. ( if this bulb is hung over out tank ) with GOOD.. reflreactors.. this 'wasted' 180 degree of light can be re-directed to when it can be of use.. so now..w/ good reflectors.. you get 240 degree of light used.. now.. this is when the bulb size come in.. since the bulb is soo small.. it dont block much of the reflected light when it is shone back down.. ( to easily understand this.. imagin the bulb itself is the GOOD reflector.. not with your index finger, hold it under the bulb.. you index finger is now the bulb.. see how the your finger blocks the light the reflector is reflecting?? (remember.. the real bulb is the reflector now.. and you finger is the make-believe bulb) thats the simple break down of t5 ho.. and that reflector part go's for every type of lighting.. mh, pc, ect... just that t5 really takes advantage of them..
you will hear/read that good reflectors make the light 300 x brighter .. reason for this is that water is reflective too.. if light is shone on it at more than 45 degree angel.. it will reflect most of it off at the same angle that hit it ( yes.. i said most.. some actually make in to the tank) so a 45 + 45 = 90 degree.. which means right out of our tank..

 

[thangbom]

soo.. in reaality.. the 180 degree dont all make it to the tank.. some is shinig sideways, or at a 45 and other bad angles that dont do good for the tank.. so the reason how they get 300 % more light is cuzz they harnest and shine most of the top 180 degree back into the tank ( good reflectors almost wrap all the way the top half of the bulb.. as to not even let the sideways light to be wasted)....
this pic is with only 2 of the 6 bulbs on.. they are bright.. (not as bright as the light at the end tho.. 400watter there)

 

[peglet]

So, Should I buy the Nova Extreme T5 HO lights? How do I make sure the reflector is wrapped? Is there a T5 lighting system that you would recommend?

 

[thangbom]

posted this in the other one...
i have yet to see anything that nova makes that is worth 1/2 the $$ they cost.. a retrofit t5ho would be the cheapest way to go but you need a hood to mount them in.. ( it's the nice box that go's on top of your tank .. you just mount the standoff to the unit w/ correct spacing and your good to go) or you could buy a prebuilt unit ( tek,aquatenics, and so on) that you just plug and and thats it... if you do decide to go retrofit.. soo if you have the option to upgrade the reflectors to Icecap SLR ( single light reflector).. they are way better and should only cost a little bit more ( when sold separatly.. they are like $3 more than teks.. so they should be only that much difference in each per reflector) if you do decide to go tek reflector.. make sure you get the TEK I's and not the TEK II's.. the TEK II reflectors only spread the light out more but they lost there "punch" to get more light to the bottom of the tank..
YzGyz

 

[dragonzim]

The main difference between the Nova and the TEK is that the Nova uses a single reflector for all the bulbs while the TEK has a reflector for each bulb. You get MUCH stronger light that way.

 

[wangotango]

If you don't mind spending a little more, look into Aquactinics. I'm running the 48" TX5 on my 55 reef and am very pleased.
-Justin

 

[thangbom]

yupper.. that is one bad boy lighting system..
YzGyz

 

[peglet]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the helpful info. I think I will definitely go with the aquatinics T5 HO. Thanks soooooo much.

 

[speeddemonlsr]

I will throw in a curve ball here, use a bigger ballast to overdrive the bulbs(icecap 660) im using a tex retro kit with single reflectors and an icecap ballast and have great results.