I Think Everyone Should Read This

[Musho3210]

http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1141564

PC's are not the same as T5 linears. One is better the other one is not, to find out which one is better, check that thread out.

 

[Mako Man111]

http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1141564

PC's are not the same as T5 linears. One is better the other one is not, to find out which one is better, check that thread out.

Reading that has got me thinking, would it be better to run my 28 watt coralife T5 setup or my 65 watt coralife PC setup?

According to that my 28 watt T5 would be in effect giving me more light than the 65 watt PC. Not to mention way less heat.

 

[Musho3210]

That coralife 28 watt is NO T5, that whole thread was about HO T5 . So that coralife has nothing to do with that thread.

 

[Mako Man111]

That coralife 28 watt is NO T5, that whole thread was about HO T5 . So that coralife has nothing to do with that thread.

So this is not what your talking about?

http/www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...blestriplight24

Its a T5, I don't think its a high output.

 

[Musho3210]

that is what we are not talking about. HO has i think 58 watts for a 48" fixture, not 28

What were talking about:
http/www.aquacave.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=428

 

[plantbrain]

I think you have more set up options with T5's, you do not need 4x 65 w PC's on a FW planted tank that's 120 cm long and say 40 cm wide.

However, 2-3x 54 W T5 still give you a nice spread and several color options and much nicer results.

2x 54 w is fine for most applications on a 120cm long tank.
These can be spread out much easier than the 110 w PC lights and provides a better spread.

Basically it reduces the watts that folks often keep for the planted tanks which is good...........
In general, most have too much light......

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[nry]

Am I getting mixed up between a Power Compact tube and a Power Compact T5 tube?

 

[rsands]

i know when i ugpraded my lights to T5 compact the difference was amazing...but surely watts are watts?

 

[Maximumbob]

watts are watts... a measure of electrical energy!

Lumens is lights.

Different bulbs provide different light spectrum's... different bulbs are more/less efficient.

Its what the bulb does with the energy provided thats important. Watts was useful when every bulb was the same... with advanced lighting technology it has become a poor measure.

 

[SuperColey1]

T5 v PC T5

As stated in a previous post:

*PC tubes are 1 T5 tube bent in the middle.
*The output is the same but it can be easier to spread the light through the tank if the tubes are seperate.
*If you have a small space in one area of the hood then PC is more more useful
*T5 lights have a larger range of bulbs available than PC
*If you want to get a huge amount of light in one area PCs are better because the 2 tubes are closer than you could get 2 T5s.
*That thread is about marine tanks and therefore they are using much differnt lighting technique, different spectrum bulbs and different brands most likely seeing as it is an america site.

As far as I am concerned I much prefer the PC to the linear, it has a more natural effect. It looks as bright to me as the T5.

the PC is much more adaptable to differnt tanks as you can put them in smaller width tanks, or stagger them over a larger tank or zigzag them, creating bright spots and darker areas just as in nature trees would shadow certain parts of a river or lake or stream.

T5 means you end up with a light the length of the tank and no room to create this natural shading in some areas.

At the end of the day, buy what you prefer. What does it matter what is brighter.

Once youve decided how much wattage you want then make the decision on what reaches your wattage target with the best positioning in the hood, also see what you can actually fit in there.

Andy

 

[Musho3210]

the shape of the PC lights makes it waste a lot of its light even with a good reflector, too much is lost between the tubes and some light reflected off the back is absorbed by the tubes. T5 can get much better reflectors that utilize more of the light into the tank since its linear and you only lose a tiny bit if the light goes up vertical.

They use different phosphors and operate at different temperatures. Yes its a marine site but most marine people use 10,000k t5's and or 10,000k PC just like many freshwaterers do. If they are the same how come one loses efficiancy almost twice the speed as the other?

PC tubes used in tanks are T5 (t5 means the size of the tube but has nothing to do with whats inside the tube) So when someone says PC they mean PC T5's, there the same thing. But if someone just says T5's chances are they mean linear.

 

[rsands]

sounds like a gap in the market for an efficient reflector to be made

 

[Biulu]

That coralife 28 watt is NO T5, that whole thread was about HO T5 . So that coralife has nothing to do with that thread.

What does HO stand for? Apart from Hydrogen.....

 

[Musho3210]

high output = HO
normal output = NO
very high output - VHO