T5 lighting vs. PC lighting

[fishes2889]

i have a wondered which is better T5's or Pc's ? I have always used MH's in the oast and have never used these types of lighting. Which is a better bang for my buck and what is the quality difference?Thanks for reading!;)

[Entropy]

I would give the nod to T5's. You get more light per watt and the bulbs last longer. The only exception would be on really small tanks where T5's will not fit. PC's have some pretty versatile small bulbs that will fit pretty much anywhere.

[newnano]

t-5s for sure. my buddy has a t-5 setup and its great. he gets great coral growth and the nice thing is you can really play with the color of the light by mixing up the bulbs.

[fishes2889]

thanks for the replys, but one more question.....what T5 fixture would be good for a 55g? , and it cant cost a fortune. Ive heard of nova extreme and thats all for T5's.

[bobt2]

tec t-5 from reefgeek great! you could use 4x54w. i have a 6x54 on my 75

[PiNaPLeX]

fishes,

look into t-5 units by Tek, Icecap, and Aqualux. These are considered to be the top 3 in T-5 lighting. The Nova extreme is a good unit, but it only has 1 reflector for all the lights which doesn't do you much good. T-5's should have INDIVIDUAL reflectors for them to be used to their full potential.

IMO, a 4x54w T-5 setup would be perfect for your tank. the 6x54w setup might be a little wide for your tank (i'm not exactly sure how wide the 6 light unit is)

[horkn]

4x54 for a 55g standard is great.


now, do you want a retrofit to fit in a canopy, or a light unit.

if you want the unit, the tek light- from aqualux, reefgeek, or many mnay others will work, or aquatinics as these are the only 2 readily available good t5ho setups.

[bassnman11]

I just DIYed 4x54 T5s on my 55. They are bright. I have a 20 gal next to it with 2 65 watt pcs, about 6 watts per gallom. The T5s are so much brighter you can't believe it. I used 2 workhorse 5 ballasts, aqualux reflectors , waterproof endcaps and giesman bulbs. I have less than $300 in the setup.