Lamp comparison

[Horsehunter]

Would anyone know where I could find a lumens per watt comparison of compact flourescent,T5flourescent, and t5HO flouresent lamps?

Thanks Frank

[philolsen]

Try R e e f K e e p e r s . i n f o - Home Page it has alot of great info

[Ninong]

Would anyone know where I could find a lumens per watt comparison of compact flourescent,T5flourescent, and t5HO flouresent lamps?

Thanks Frank

There is little difference in the lumens per watt between CFL, T5 and T5HO. Don't forget that what's important is not the lumens or the lumens per watt but the amount of light that is reflected down into the aquarium. For this reason, both T5 and T5HO would be a better choice than CFL because more of their light is reflected down into the tank assuming an individual reflector for each lamp.

A typical 54w T5HO lamp puts out 5,000 lumens (92.6 lumens per watt), a typical 28w T5 lamp puts out 2,900 lumens (103.6 lumens per watt) and a typical 55w CFL lamp puts out 4,800 lumens (87.3 lumens per watt). Your typical 40w T12 NO fluorescent lamp puts out 2,000 lumens (50 lumens per watt) and your typical 400w metal halide lamp puts out 32,000 lumens (80 lumens per watt).

Lumens per watt, in my opinion, would be very far down on the list of factors to consider in deciding on a lighting arrangement. Even if you are very concerned about efficiency, other things to take into consideration would be how long the initial lumens were maintained. In other words, T5 HO lamps (according to the manufacturers) retain 95% of their initial lumens after 40% of rated life (20,000 hours rated life). That's pretty good. And rated life for your typical 55w CFL are only 10,000 hours.

When it comes to choosing between CFL and T5HO, I don't think there is really any comparison anymore. In my opinion, T5HO is far superior to CFL. If you are talking about lighting for a fish-only aquarium, I guess you could consider standard output T5 lamps but for a reef aquarium, T5HO would be a better choice.

None of that should be taken as an endorsement of T5HO lighting over metal halide lighting in all situations. I believe T5HO lamps are a good choice in certain applications but I believe metal halides, or a combination of metal halides and T5 actinics, are a better choice for many situations. It all depends on the depth of the water column and what inhabitants you intend to keep. For example, I wouldn't even think of lighting an aquarium that is 30" tall with just T5HO lamps but if the tank is only 20" tall, then T5HO might be a good choice if that's what you like.

[Fragmented]

do a search on Sanjay Joshi -he is yhe reef lighting master

[charlie]

do a search on Sanjay Joshi -he is yhe reef lighting master

If I am not mistaken, Sanjay only compares metal halides, but I might be wrong.