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06/21/2011, 01:38 AM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 465
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why are my lights so dim?
I have a quad HO T5 over my 60 gal reef with 2 75.25 bulbs, an aquasun, and an actinic (this is what the LFS reccomended as I did not and have not looked into the specifics of bulb selection just yet.)
if I am correct a 48" T5 bulb is around 54 watts so 4 bulbs equal 216 watts well I just rigged up quad 40 watt 48" T12 65K bulbs over my new FW tank which works out to 160 watts (I like $4 bulbs) the T12's look so much brighter could this just be the difference between spectrum's? or is there something wrong with my T5 fixture and/or bulbs? |
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06/21/2011, 05:24 AM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 4,452
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A white bulb will always look brighter then an actinic....that's probably the case.
What ballast are you using for the T5's? How old are the bulbs?
__________________
Fill your tank with $5 bills, add gasoline and light it on fire.....only then will you know the real cost of reefing. Current Tank Info: 180 Mixed Reef |
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06/21/2011, 07:59 AM
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#3 |
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Team RC Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: houstonia
Posts: 7,989
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It's really hard to measure the "brightness" in terms of light quality for corals with a visual comparison. I'd recommend looking for a PAR meter (check around locally for someone who may let you borrow one) to take a few measurements to compare.
__________________
-Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet? |
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06/21/2011, 02:15 PM
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#4 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 465
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the bulbs are mabey 4 months old and the ballast is just what came with the fixture
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06/21/2011, 03:01 PM
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#5 |
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-RT * ln(k)
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Little Rock
Posts: 9,705
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Watts does not equal light output. I could take just half the watts worth of LEDs and out shine either fixture in terms of brightness.
__________________
David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction... |
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