T5 Question

[Siouxsie]

I appologize in advance if this question has been asked already, but the T5 Q&A thread was a little hard to follow.

I am about to get T5's for my tank. For the 48" lights, they are 28 watts. They say on the website (Current USA Nova T5 retrofits) that the 28 watt lamp puts out nearly the same amount of light as a 40 watt SO.

My question is, when trying to figure out how many lights I will need in the canopy, do I go by the 28 watt label or the nearly 40 watts of a SO lamp? I don't want to not have enough light, but at the same time, I don't want to burn anything. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[REMF]

First of 48" T5ho's are 54 watts ea. I'm not sure what light retro you are looking at or where.

If you are going retro in a hood you should look at Ice Cap individual reflectors which are 2.5" wide, so the width of your hood would determine the number of lamps.

 

[Siouxsie]

This website: http://www.current-usa.com/nova.html and Marine and Reef both list the light as 28 watts, I don't think they are HO's. Please let me know if I am mistaken..... I am a simple PC light girl, these T5's are new to me!

 

[ohclereef01]

I personally would steer clear of T5 "NO" bulbs and get the HO style.. I have not seen anyone talking about the NO bulbs.. Their claim to fame is producing as much as a 40watt bulb.. thats not very much.. the standard HO 54watt with a IceCap reflectors is putting out *much* more light than then the bulbs you are looking at.. If you are looking for a cheap alternative you could always go Power Compact but I would stick it out and get the true T5 HO setup..

for a 110G I would look at getting 2 of these setups with the IceCap reflectors swapped into the fixture -

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...36_inch__Tek_Light:_6-39W_T5_HO_Fluorescents_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply

From what your personal page says your current lighting setup would cost you ~274$ to buy today.. if you want to UP grade you have to spend more $$..

just my 2c