Lighting Help

[Bcollins111900]

Need to order some new lighting and wanted to get some input. My new tank is just a 55 gallon tank. I will only be keeping LPS, Zoas, and Softies. Here are the options... WPG= Watts Per Gallon


48" T-5 108 Watt Fixture (Single Reflector) 1.96 WPG
48" PC 130 Watt Fixture (Single Reflector) 2.36 WPG


From the research I have done everyone is saying get T-5's. There will also be a T-8 Fixture in the hood as well (6500K and a Actinic). Both fixtures would have a single reflector, so whats the adavantaged one over the other?


Thanks in adavance everyone!!!

 

[jh2pizza]

I would not go with the PC lighting. Test results are much better with T5s.

 

[fletchman]

I would go with the T5 lighting..much more flexible for future changes to the tank

 

[Bcollins111900]

you think it will be fine wpg wise for what i want to keep i use to run 400 watt halides so this is a new ball game for me

 

[Bcollins111900]

Also whats the diff between t-5 and t-8? cant seem to find a straight forward answer anywhere...

 

[itZme]

The "T" in those designations stands for eighths of an inch in diameter. So a T5 is 5/8" wide and a T12 is 1.5" across. T8 would be 1".
The thin tubes on PC lights are actually T5 lights but they are bent back again and both sets of contact prongs are on one end. That's why you see the 4 pins on one end of PC lights. The reason you get so much more light into your tank from T5 bulbs is because the bent PC tube will shine light that goes outward and hits the other part of the tube that is right next to it. All of that light between the tubes is wasted and just bounces into the bulb.
Most people that run T5 setups use the computer designed single reflectors that concentrate the light and bounces most of the light into the tank instead of all over inside of a canopy with one big reflector.
If you have a single flat reflector then have a T5 bulb shining inside it, the light will go upward then hit the reflector and bounce directly back toward the bulb and be wasted. The light traveling toward the front and back will either go out of the canopy or be bounced back toward the bulb. The only light that will actually get to the water is the light shining downward or the light that has been bounced around a couple times until it made its way down toward the water. Each time it bounces it loses intensity. This is why they say the "SLR" stlye reflectors effectively direct up to 200% more light toward your tank than flat reflectors.

Hope that helps.
-- Kevin

 

[CleveYank]

Scroll through page 39 which should come up if I copied the correct link. T5 pics of a well thought out setup.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1436138&perpage=25&pagenumber=39

 

[kmacartney]

T5 all the way.

 

[A.VOID]

I changed/ upgraded lights 3x on my 55, so a piece of advice

PC = FOWLR and/or softies. Don't bother unless this is your goal
T5 >> Tek light 4 bulb is good enough for most things, but an Aquactinics TX5 is superior in many ways and you can grow whatever you want.