272 watts of PC vs. 156 watts of T5

[jeremyj0247]

I currently have the 272 watts of PC bulbs now. They are over a 38 gal tank wich is 20" tall. I was wondering if 4x39watt T5's would be an upgrade. I am keeping just shrooms and zoos right now. I would like to try keeping a clam or two and maybe a monti, but I know the pc's are not intense enough for either. The T5s I am looking at have slr reflectors and either a standard ballast or an Icecap to overdrive the bulbs. Bulbs would be ATI. Anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks

[madadi]

i have 4 24w t5s with individual reflectors in my frag tank and sps are growing just fine. colors are not all that though. i have a clam thats actually growing too. not sure how much of an upgrade you will get since i never used PC lights. if you can squezee 6 t5s on that tank, you wont have to worry if you have enough light again.

[jeremyj0247]

I can only fit 4 slr reflectors in my hood. Can a guy put two bulbs per reflector?

[bristle]

The reflectors are only designed for one bulb. If you put two in them, you won't get the full effect. The ATI bulbs have very good PAR and so I think you would maybe get a boost.

[widmer]

You could always run the T5's on an ice cap 660 ballast. From everything I've read, they will produce plenty of light for SPS if you run them on the ice cap, because the ice cap overdrives the bulbs.

[Krazy302]

run the t5's on a 660 icecap balast it does overdrive them and they are alot brighter.

[jeremyj0247]

So what would be a better setup? Running 4 t5s with Icecap ballast to overdrive the bulbs, or a single 250watt HQI bulb with one 96 watt PC for actinics. The HQI bulb would be centered so light at the ends of the tank might be dim. What would cost more to run? I am thinking lighting like this shouldn't cost much if any more than 270 watts I have already. It is time for me to change out my pc bulbs, so instead of buying pc's I thought I would just upgrade. I just want to get a good setup. thanks