Lighting overkill?

Travis55

Member
So which would be better over my 20 high, 4x24 t5 or 4x64 pc. I know the wattage is higher on the pc but i know t5s are better. Whats your guys' opinion?
 
Don't even think about running pc bulbs anymore than you already have. They are why the watt per gallon rule was started IMO. It's old technology, that runs inefficient and needs replaced more often and are more expensive to replace.

Ati,TEK,aquatic life,Catalina,current are good fixtures.( from best to still very good )

I recommend getting a fixture that does NOT come with bulbs unless they are ATI or Geisseman bulbs. No crap bulbs!!!
 
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+1 to the above posts

PCs are worthless compared to T5s, or to anything nowadays. Watts mean absolutely nothing when it comes to lighting output.

I would look into a good fixture such as ATI or Tek. I agree with the above poster, that the fixtures that come with bulbs are normally not as good. I run an ATI and it is excellent.
 
The watt per gallon rule was around long before PC was invented. If you want to get technical, PC and t5 make light the same way and the biggest difference is that the shape of the PC makes it difficult to design a decent reflector. The main disadvantage in the use of PC right now is the lack of support, there are very few lamps to choose from.
Of your 2 choices, I'd go with t5 mainly due to the variety of bulbs available and the efficiency is better. OTOH, you could get more light from a 2x65w PC than from a 4x24w t5. A 4x65w is overkill.
 
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