DIY PC lighting steps?

[TheReefGeek]

But with PCs, the tubes are not perfectly round, so you cannot build as good of a reflector to uniformly bounce light back with precision.

With VHOs, I think they all have internal reflectors along the top, so that stops you from bouncing the light back really well with a reflector

With T5s, they are round and no internal reflector (I believe) so you can build a reflector that is matched perfectly to them.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

But with PCs, the tubes are not perfectly round, so you cannot build as good of a reflector to uniformly bounce light back with precision.

actualy they are round, just depending on the set up you might have to treat it as two tubes in a single reflector. for an example I designed the reflector for my old PC set up and I was with in 5% of the output of a 175 watt MH.

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

With VHOs, I think they all have internal reflectors along the top, so that stops you from bouncing the light back really well with a reflector.

the only one I know of with an internal reflector is URI. Might be more now. the internal reflector actualy allows you to get more light into the tank as you are not waisting light trying to come back through the tube so it is a better set up.

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

With T5s, they are round and no internal reflector (I believe) so you can build a reflector that is matched perfectly to them.

not realy true, you can not pass light effectivly back through the bulb so a T5 will have the exact same limitations as any other floressent tube.

Steve

[TheReefGeek]

How many watts of PCs did it take to come within 5% of a 175w MH? What reflector was used on the 175w MH for comparison?