T5 Vs. PC vs MH

[travis32]

I saw on craigslist a T5 light fixture that would fit my tank 48" and I thought it said a 6 bulb fixture.. (i don't have the link off hand).

They want to sell the fixture with extra bulbs for $100.00.

Would I gain anything by going to a T5 from my corallife 65w PC light?

Would I be better off saving up for MH's eventually?

I would like to be open to any range of corals at some point and am willing to save for a good light fixture if the PC would get me by until I can afford something much better.

[sdc19982002]

Depends on the t-5 fixture. If it has individual reflectors it should allow you to keep anything you want. Without the reflectors it probably wont. Thats a good price if it's in decent shape.

And yes you would gain alot by losing your compact fixture.

[zachfishman]

By Coralife 65watt light you mean one that has 4x65watt PCs right? If so then the difference will be negligible (unless the Coralife reflector stinks and the T5 fixture has great independent reflectors). If your 48" Coralife is only 2x65 watts, then you'll see quite an improvement in light output.

What size tank do you have? There's lots of 48" long tanks (55, 75, 90, 120, ...)

[SATAN FISH]

Depends on the t-5 fixture. If it has individual reflectors it should allow you to keep anything you want. Without the reflectors it probably wont. Thats a good price if it's in decent shape.

And yes you would gain alot by losing your compact fixture.

I wouldn't go as far as to say he would gain a lot by losing the PC's. I have seen some very nice tanks with nothing but PC lighting. Of course, the general consensus is that MH is simply the best way to go.

I personally run both...

[sdc19982002]

He would gain the ability to change bulb combinations for better color and growth. Thats a big gain.


and the the general consensus is starting to lean more toward t-5 and led lights.

[Chiefsurfer]

If it has individual reflectors that t5 6-bulb is a great price. If you could, find out the manufacturer and model, and we could let you know. W/O individual reflectors, probably little or no gain. If you were to get one with individual reflectors, it would REALLLLLLY improve upon the PC's.

I personally(just my opinion) feel MH is over-rated. The bulbs burn out fast, they run all kinds of hot, they use TONS of power, and from many hours of reading, i hear that you get SLIGHTLY better growth over t5, Shimmer effect, and penetration. For that reason, any tank I ever do under 24" deep, I am using t5. Anything over that and I have to consider MH.

[855012 reefer]

if you want to keep what most people keep (sps+lps), you will want MH.

[travis32]

Well the person can't spell, but it does say, 4' long, 22inches wide, 6 bulb t5 light.

My PC light has reflectors on it and is the 4 bulb light. 2 actinics, and 2 daylight bulbs.
It's the corallife brand. I have a friend that uses it for his 90g tank and he said he's never had any issues growing corals. I don't know that he's into SPS, but, Mostly LPS and soft corals. He looked at my light and said it's the exact same design as his, just different brand.

[travis32]

oh, just saw the brand of the T5: T5 Flouro Aquarium Lite. I'm not sure if Flouro is a brand or a description. ;)

[spw4949]

IMO, you can get very good growth with T5's & the multibulb fixtures are nice because you can switch the bulb combos & create a really nice look, & you would definately gain by upgrading from PC's, PC's are the lowest on the totem poll IMO, you get way better penetration from T5's then you do PC's & on a 55 that makes a big difference because it's so deep.....with that said I am a huge halide fan, it's impossible to replicate the shimmer from halides with T5 fixtures, I used to have a nova extreme pro 6x39W fixture & I definately liked it but I always wanted shimmer, I upgraded to a 2x250W halide fixture with 12 1W LED's & 4x39W T5's(I only run 2) & I love it, it really is a matter of personal preference IMO between T5's & halides because I wouldn't argue that you can most definately get the same growth from T5's as halides but for me it's all about the shimmer.......if it's that good of a deal for the T5's then it would def be an upgrade & you can always do halides later on down the road.......HTH.......

[rangerD275]

Aside from the variables listed (reflectors, bulb type, ballast, etc...) the difference is personal preference. I have a friend that runs T-5's over his tank and it is one of the most beautiful SPS dominant tanks you will see. It's 30" deep and can grow clams on the bottom. I personally chose halides because I like the look better. some will say that you can get the same with T5's with led supplementation, and while I do think it's close, I PERSONALLY like the look of my 250w MH's. With that being said, I do plan on adding either 2 T5's, or actinic blue LED's for some more pop. Also, one of the main arguments for t5's is heat, and energy use. Once you use enough T5's to grow anything you want the difference is negligible IMO. My friends tank gets hotter than mine and I run 2x250's over a 150 gallon tank, he runs 12x54w T5 bulbs over a 220g.

Like everyone said, the big thing with T5's is the reflectors and bulbs.

[lordofthereef]

You will hear various opinions on lighting and which is best. I will not get into that since there is already some disagreement in this thread and it will inevitably stray off topic. I will say that $100 for a 6 bulb fixture is a really good price, especially with bulbs (even if they are old, you can get a feel for what that bulb setup will look like on your tank). That said, I have never heard of that brand of fixture and a search didn't bring up anything of much relevance. One thing I would look for is individual reflectors (a HUGE plus). Also, I assume ballasts are included? If not, depending on the ballast you go with, you will end up adding 100-200 bucks to the price, which all of the sudden isn't such a stellar deal.

[travis32]

Thanks Lord. I'm not wanting to debate the pros and cons of MHs and you got to the core information I wanted to know. Not to say a good lighting discussion is bad.. I learn from that too..

Thanks for the discussion, comments and info. I'll see what I find out on brand and model and ballast info.