Input on light

[Mark_Lide]

Can I get some input on this light. I would like to do a custom light setup in my canopy but I like this one.

Odyssea 48" Power Compact Reef Aquarium Lighting 260W - eBay (item 130266263315 end time Nov-08-08 12:01:27 PST)


Any help would be great

[charlie]

Personally, I would spend a little more, and get a T5 setup, more bang for your buck.
Hope we were quick enuf for ya.

[Mark_Lide]

I'm not doing a "reef" system just FOWLR and trying to do a somewhat budget system, I could get a retrofit kit from DRSF&S for like $131.00 and I already have LED moonlights on my canopy. It has two T5 lights, reflectors, ballast and cords.

[Reefland]

The 2 T-5 lights will be very nice for your FOWLR, I would go for them over the power compacts.

[Mark_Lide]

Thanks for the replies but I would like to know why two bulbs are better than four? I'm new and would like to know.

Thanks

[Reefland]

Better coloration, more lighting output, less energy consumption.

[Ninong]

Thanks for the replies but I would like to know why two bulbs are better than four? I'm new and would like to know.

Thanks

No, two HO T5s would NOT be better than four PCs. I know what Scott meant to say but he didn't say what he really should have said. He should have said that a single 54w HO T5 in an individual reflector is superior to a 65w PC. And since a 65w PC is only half the length of a T5, we have to compare two T5s (108 watts worth) against two PCs (130 watts worth).

You're considering covering a 48" long tank with four 2' PCs. The lamps are actually about 21.25" long. Each PC is 65 watts = 260 watts total. Wattage is never a good way to compare lamps because it's nothing more than a measurement of power consumption; HOWEVER, two 4' HO T5s will not be better than four 2' PCs. (Each PC is a double tube.) The two 4' HO T5s would equal 108 watts.

Four 4' HO T5s in individual reflectors would be WAY SUPERIOR to four 2' PCs. In other words, the 216 watts of T5s will be very much better than the 260 watts of PCs, especially if the T5s are in individual reflectors.

BUT, for your particular purposes, the four PCs you are considering would work just fine. If you choose to go that route, get two 10,000K lamps and two 03 actinic lamps. Set the 10,000K lamps up on one switch and the actinic lamps on a separate switch so that you can have a dawn and dusk effect by turning on the actinics half an hour to an hour before the 10,000Ks come on and then turning them off half an hour to an hour after the 10,000Ks go off.

That's assuming you decide to go with PCs.

If it were me, I would go with HO T5s in individual reflectors. If this is not a full-on reef tank but just a Fish-Only tank with maybe a few soft corals eventually, then you could get by with perhaps just three T5s -- two 10,000K and one 03 actinic. The trick is that they must be set up in individual reflectors. That makes a tremendous difference in their effective output.

[Mark_Lide]

Thanks again for the input