Lighting?

[justahobby]

Hello to all. I am curious about the T5's. I don't know anything about them and assumed they were the next best thing to PC. I was surprised to see somone on here with brand new set of different T5's on an prestigous tank. What gives? I love keeping anemone's and feel lighting is a root of evil to their happiness. I don't have the money for a halide (and they always shriek away in the LFS when put under the halide) and my PC doesn't seem to cut it for carpets and BTA's. My condy and curly q do great... so I have resisted urges to buy any others until I can find a happy median. Maybe T5 and my PC?

[mdavis735]

from what i've heard t5's will work for anemone's as long as you have a sufficient amount of them.the bulbs last longer and use less power than halide.plus they run cooler.

[lt1z28]

In order to keep high light critters such as sps and clams you need to have good individual reflectors to get the most output out of T5's. Not all T5 fixtures or retrofits put out the same amount of light. If you are considering a retrofit stick to IceCap or Tek reflectors. The best fixtures out there include ATI, Aquactinics, and Tek. Several hobbyists have had success at keeping clams and sps with the Nova Extreme Pro. Anemones will thrive under any of the mentioned T5 fixtures or retrofits.

[justahobby]

Is one stronger than the other? I'm still not clear. I can't put as many PC's on my tank (one is what I can fit on my 58 gal.). So do I achieve higher intensity lighting (than the PC) by adding more strips?

[Bill S]

I've had no problem with my many BTAs and T5s. I have MH on my big tank, but my many clones have come mostly from my 55 and nano, both of which have T5s.

As noted above, as is typical in this hobby, if you buy decent product up front, it will save you in the end. I have a Nova on my 55, and I've put $60 in repair parts, and now it needs at least 1 ballast.

[fjr_wertheimber]

T5s with a good reflector and ballast are much more efficient (stronger, as you put it) than comparable PCs, due to the direct linear flow of electrical charge and increased focus of useable light due to the reflector.

[justahobby]

That's what I was digging for. I had only heard of T5's once before. Now looking at this site I am astonished by how popular they are. I must confess I have no friends that are saltwater keepers so my knowledge comes from whatever I decide to learn about from internet sites. Hopefully I will be learning alot more from you. Thanks. Oh and any more tech info on T5's would be great. I have searched the web thoroughly and can't find any decent links that go in depth into the lighting choices out there.

Justin