PC vs. T5?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Telford

I'd love for you to come by sometime and give me some advice.

I can definately do that sometime. I think those canopies are actually just decorative, and are empty aren't they? Do they have any lights built into them, or is it just a "shell" sort of thing? In that case, I'm sure you could get a MH light in there, and I think that's your best option. I'd probably overdrive a 250w mogul bulb with an HQI ballast to get that depth out of it without getting silly on the heat.

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

what about if you cant have a good reflector for T5's My tank has 2 24" T5's built in, but the reflector part is only 1/4 circle and is white, not polished alum. Would it be wise for me to get a newer T5 fixture, or PC?

Get a newer T5 fixture.

Originally Posted by 'Ol Nobodaddy

What makes T5's so effective is the highly polished individual reflectors, without them there effectiveness drops dramitically.

He's right. When I said that T5s are (generally) good for 18" depth, that is a high quality ballast, high quality reflectors, and high quality bulbs. If you don't have all three, then you may as well have PCs.

Originally Posted by skylord

What do you base your LED experiance on? The manufacurer, not PFO/Solaris says the bulbs will last 50,000 hours. The math says thats over 11 years. If they are exagerating and inflating the numbers....lets say by 20%... then they will last over 9 years.

I used to sell the Solaris lights. Albeit, I sold them when they first came out, and they were having troubles with banks of lights burning out prematurely (like in a week). They say they'll last 10 years, but have they spent the last 10 years testing them or what? I said I am still on the fence with this one. I think that LED is going to be where it's at. I don't think that LED is where it's at yet. They need improvement. I bet in 3-5 years they'll be 10x better, and 1/4 the cost. I'll stick to T5 and MH until then.

[Telford]

Originally Posted by Myka

I can definately do that sometime. I think those canopies are actually just decorative, and are empty aren't they? Do they have any lights built into them, or is it just a "shell" sort of thing? In that case, I'm sure you could get a MH light in there, and I think that's your best option. I'd probably overdrive a 250w mogul bulb with an HQI ballast to get that depth out of it without getting silly on the heat.

They are decorative, but it is also what you attach your lighting to.

[Myka]

^ You don't necessarily attach your lighting to the canopy. It depends on what you get.

[Telford]

Originally Posted by Myka

^ You don't necessarily attach your lighting to the canopy. It depends on what you get.

how else would you suspend it above the tank without leaving the canopy off?

[Myka]

Brackets...chains...wooden racks...all sorts of things. The canopy will hide all that.