Adding a T5 fixture....

[spw4949]

I already have 2 96 watt PC's on my tank. I''m thinking of adding a 36"coralife fixture that has 2x21 watt t5's,it's like $50. Will this help a lot. I'm not too familiar with t5 lighting & remember reading somewhere that wattage doesn't matter with t5's. Am I way off base? Any input would be appreciated.

[spw4949]

Any1? Any suggestions....

[faded1004]

i think t5's a pretty nice... 2 x 21 might not be too much, what kinda live stock do you have? what bulbs are you planning on running?

may be if you ran daylight bulbs, that would give me a decent boost in par?

personal opinion, i would suggest not doing too many mixed lights. i used mh, t5, vho all at the same time, and i had to keep notes on how long i had each. buying 3 kinds of bulbs was a hassle... so... personally, try to shoot for a full t5 setup later? i think you will get more out of that upgrade. you should be able to get a full t5 retro kit for like 100 with everything?

[spw4949]

Right now I have some ricordea,frogspawn,kenya tree,& euphyllia. They all seem to be doing well, I'm just worried that as I add & have to go farther from the top 1/3rd of my tank the worse any additions will do. That's why I was thinking if I added that strip with 2 day bulbs it might be a good enough boost for what I'm keeping. Thanks for the input faded....

[faded1004]

i have ricordias and some softies in my tank with 400w mh... i dont' think you will have to worry about it with 2 x 21w bulbs...

might be an idea to use the pc as daytlight, and the t5 as actinics? that way you can do a low power night light with it...

just do what you think is best... and have fun!

[spw4949]

That's a good idea faded,maybe I'll try that, my PC do have LED moonlights so maybe I'll run 2 96w PC daylights and add the actinics with the t5. Thanks again.

[chem-e]

Since the PCs are already in use, it makes sense to keep them in and add a couple T5s. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to do, such as if you're trying to move into SPS or if you just want a little more lighting.

If it was me, I'd probably skip the PCs all together and use T5s / MH. I just feel like PCs waste too much electricity and their outputs don't justify it.

[spw4949]

I just want a little more lighting, I don't plan on any SPS. Just like most people money is kind of tight for me right now so I figured if I can step up my lighting a bit for $50 I might as well do it!

[chem-e]

I just looked back at your first post and noticed that these aren't T5HO. Since you're going to be spending money, you might as well get the most bang for your buck and go for a fixture that is HO.

I'm assuming that you don't want retrofit kit since you're shopping for a fixture, so this is going to add some cost. I've bought Nova Extreme, Teklight, and Aquactinic T5 fixtures and the Extreme does a decent job, but doesn't cost a lot of money. I'm using it over my refugium, so I wasn't looking for anything expensive, but I do like how it's T5HO lighting.

I bought mine from DrF&S, but it doesn't look like they carry this line anymore. Here's another link (http://www.petmountain.com/product/light-fixtures/512404/current-usa-nova-extreme-t5ho-x2-10k-460nm-actinic-saltwater.html) to give you an idea of what it costs.

Just my .02

[faded1004]

yea, i hope the 50 bucks if for a full kit, ballast, mounts, and reflectors. cause you can get t5ho setup for less then 100 complete...

[texmexbigspring]

What is the diff between ho and not ho???

[faded1004]

HO, means high output... a 4 foot high out put can be pushed to throw 84w? standard ho can push 54w normally. in general, they are more efficient at giving out light

in this case, i think the original person is trying to buy 21w 36" NO (normal output) bulb setup. although a HO 24" bulb would give out more power, 24w. so it comes down to, more power with less space.

so in this case, a 24" bulb should be cheaper than a 36" bulb... so sometimes it may be cheaper...

[Mike31154]

A 36 inch T5 HO tube runs at 39 watts as opposed to the 21 watts the Coralife T5 fixture gives you. So in effect, the T5HO tube uses almost twice the wattage as the NO. In return, you'll get a heck of a lot more light from the same surface area.

[nikon187]

don't waste your money on regular output T5s. There are so much better options as mentioned above