T5???

[boxcar182]

Currently I have a pc 260 watt fixture over my 55 gallon (about 5 watts per gallon). i want to upgrade and i really like the tek t5's. I want to get the 4 54 watt bulb fixture and that would give me about 4 watts per gallon. I was woundering since the t5's whould give me less watts per gallon than my pc is it really worth it? Do the individual reflectors make that much of a difference?

 

[dragon_slayer]

Watts/Gallon is as useless as those girl parts on a bore hog and the person who came up with that should be castrated (along with those who use it as a reference ), 4x54w T5 is a far superior light setup then 260w of PC on your 55g.

kc

 

[boxcar182]

bumb

 

[boxcar182]

bump

 

[GSMguy]

get the aquatinics tx5 twice the output of the tek and looks nicer

 

[gpep419]

id go with the ice cap retro and yeah 4x54 will give you any coral you want.

 

[gpep419]

o yeah not to menction i have a new ice cap retro for sale

 

[Wetline]

I'm personally going with the T5 IceCap Retro from www.reefgeek.com for my 55 gallon. Just like dragon_slayer pointed out. T5's will put out far more light then power compacts.

 

[gpep419]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10073537#post10073537 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wetline
I'm personally going with the T5 IceCap Retro from www.reefgeek.com for my 55 gallon. Just like dragon_slayer pointed out. T5's will put out far more light then power compacts.

watch that kit its not the good ic ballast i learned the hard way and sent them back. get the kit that says ic 660 or 430 ballasts. those ballast will not over drive the bulb and if they go out they cant get rebuilt.

 

[dragon_slayer]

yeah from reefgeek get the retro that is rated 'SLR T5 Very High Output', they come with an IC ballast, the 'High Output' version doesn't.

kc

 

[stevedola]

get individual reflectors.

 

[JTEAGUE]

On my 75 I went from a 260w PC to the Tek T5 54w x 4 and what a difference! The Tek light does have individual reflectors and I'm very pleased with mine.

 

[dragon_slayer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10074162#post10074162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stevedola
get individual reflectors.

as noted in the previous above posts SLR = Single Light Reflector

kc

 

[boxcar182]

Dont the tek t5 have individual reflectors?

 

[boxcar182]

also what exactly is a retro? Do you need a canopy for that cause i dont have a canopy?

 

[JTEAGUE]

Retro means you have to have a canopy and everything is seperate and has to be mounted, and yes Tek has individual reflectors. I cant speak on the others as I have no experience with them.

 

[Wetline]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10073569#post10073569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gpep419
watch that kit its not the good ic ballast i learned the hard way and sent them back. get the kit that says ic 660 or 430 ballasts. those ballast will not over drive the bulb and if they go out they cant get rebuilt.

Son of a *****!

Oh well, it should be at my door today. I don't have much SPS so I'll just use what I get even though it wasn't what I was expecting. I guess I'll upgrade ballasts when I get a clam or more SPS.

What ballasts does the NON very high output kit come with?

 

[DarG]

You know, you may be perfectly fine. It's not mandatory to overdrive the bulbs, you may not even need the extra output. If you don't need the extra par then why increase heat and shorten lamp life by overdriving the lamps. I have a brand new IC 660 ballast on my shelf. I bought it a while back when I needed to replace the one I had on my VHO's. I switched gears from VHO and went T5 and Halide, and just built my DIY canopy. 2 X 250 watt Halides and 4 X T5's. And I decided against using the IC ballast because I didnt need the extra Par. I used a pair of ballasts (Advance) that drives the bulbs at their normal output of 54 watts. Just because you can overdrive them doesn't mean you have to or need to or have to.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10073971#post10073971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dragon_slayer
yeah from reefgeek get the retro that is rated 'SLR T5 Very High Output', they come with an IC ballast, the 'High Output' version doesn't.

kc

Why? So you can have shorter bulb life and higher electricity bills?

The Teks dont run all that well stock, with stock ballasts because they run too hot. They need fans when normally driven. Theres almost no way to get them to run at a reasonable temperature with an IC ballast.


OP, theres pretty much nothing you can't keep in a 55 with 4x54w T5s.

 

[dragon_slayer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10082518#post10082518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
Why? So you can have shorter bulb life and higher electricity bills?

The Teks dont run all that well stock, with stock ballasts because they run too hot. They need fans when normally driven. Theres almost no way to get them to run at a reasonable temperature with an IC ballast.


OP, theres pretty much nothing you can't keep in a 55 with 4x54w T5s.

I'm sorry that you couldn't take the time to check the setup referred to before you went spouting off , they are IC reflectors not Tek and they don't run overly hot without fans, but with fans it compensates dramatically for the loss of bulb life caused by overdriving them to the point it's minimal loss of bulb life when using quality bulbs.

kc