new tank lights

[jc]

Well, I just upgraded my 75g to a 90g and I want to upgrade the lights. I don't want to use MH because I only keep softies, lps and squamosa clams. Is 216w of T5 HO with one parabolic reflector equal to or greater than 520w of pc light? My pc lights are the odyssea brand and the T5 would be Nova extreme brand.

[MrZ2u]

.

[MrZ2u]

With one reflector...no. Run all four lights on individual reflectors with an icecap 660 ballast to over drive them...I’d say yes!

I know you are not looking at the Odyssea T-5 fixture but incase you consider it...there is a fella on http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=14219 that would attest to good reasons not to go there. 3 of 4 bulbs arrived broken and they were of an odd (too short) length to replace with standard T-5 HO bulbs. The Nova extreme is nice stuff but I looked at Finnex and for an all in one they seem to be as good and cheaper. Best price I found on them was http://www.northcoastmarines.com/lighting_systems_fluor.htm and there was a thread I saw somewhere where one of those was retrofitted with individual reflectors.

Extensive testing has been done by “Grim Reefer” and individual reflectors make a huge actual difference over one shared. Find his old threads at www.reefcentral.com and find him alive and well these days at www.marinedepot.com/forums

[alton]

216 watts of T5HO with individual reflectors is equal to 260 watts of PC. The color on the T5HO looks a little better but I have already tried this experiment on my 75. There was no noticable difference in growth. I finished up going with 2 - 175 watt MH with Electronic Ballast and Reeflux Lamps. My Frogspawn love it. If you go with T5HO, use at least a min. of 6.

[MrZ2u]

some examples of what pure T5-HO can do...

http://www.danj.com/reef/corals.php

http://www.reefland.com/rho/0106/feature8.php

[jc]

I ordered tek t-5 ho with individual reflectors. I am getting 4 bulbs but I do have room to add 2 more if I think I need it. thanks for the info.

[PeeperKeeper]

I guess you already ordered, but just FYI, Frederick at www.coralreefbazaar.com has some good deals on T5 retros. I just ordered 6 X 54W from him for my 75g, which came out to $438 with tax included and he's local so he's going to install it for me too.

[dwdenny]

216w of T5 will blow away 260w of PC as far a PAR numbers are concerned. Softies dont like the T5 all that much so you can go even lower. If you can retor you will save some money and do get individual reflectors makes all the difference. Reefgeek.com and aqualuxlighting.com are good ones that people use. Here are a few threads on RC that will help as well I hope
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=795494
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=421647

[PeeperKeeper]

Oops! double post.

[Bug_Power]

I have a T5 on my sump right now, and had 6 T5's on my 180 before that. I have to tell you the hard and soft corals I did have really like them. I even had crappy Jebo's with single reflectors. It was a decent amout of light, but I had 48" bulbs and could have really gone with a 60" setup. FWIW it wasn't all that bad.

[jc]

I decided on the 4 bulbs from reefgeek.com. I heard that the softies might not like the t-5's. I think i'll be ok with the 4 bulbs because the tank is 24" and I will mount the retro kit to the top of my canopy which is about 8" tall.

[dwdenny]

I think that will work just fine and still ba able to add ac ouple more if you decide you want more demanding corals. I am going to be using 4X24w over my 40g breeder stagered to cover and I will have less intense lighting over the edges and in the center will be great for high light demanding corals. Plus my tank is only 16" deep

[sirllamas]

Can someone help me please. I have a coralife retrofit compact light (the one with four lights) and one of my lights will not turn on. I checked it out and I think it has to do with the main box (with the fan). Does any one have any idea on how to fix it. One more question. Does anyone know what to do so the lights wont get stuck into the fixture. Someone told me to put some vaseline on the pins. Is this true? Someone please help.

[SBreef]

Can someone help me please. I have a coralife retrofit compact light (the one with four lights) and one of my lights will not turn on. I checked it out and I think it has to do with the main box (with the fan). Does any one have any idea on how to fix it. One more question. Does anyone know what to do so the lights wont get stuck into the fixture. Someone told me to put some vaseline on the pins. Is this true? Someone please help.

Where are you located?
Have you swapped bulbs?
As for the vaseline, I do not know. If I were to anything like that, I would swap a very small amoiunt of silicon grease, like they use for spark plug boots, or electonics type of the same grease.