T-5's or compact fluorescents???

[Jonviviano]

I recently set up a 55 G SW aquarium and plan to keep some easier corals. (mushrooms, xenia, polyps, some clams maybe, an easy anemone). Which would you guys suggest? and which would penatrate deeper? Im far out of range of purchasing MH's, so im looking for the best alternative. Any help would be wonderfully appreciated.

P.s I know theres probably a billion threads with this exact, but the search option isnt working and i cant find an old thread. Thanks

[Bill and Elaine]

GO with VHO's

[ledford1]

T5 or PC? I'd go with the T5 lighting. Having done PC in the past and moving on to T5, I like them much better.

With T5, make sure you get a good unit with the individual reflectors, such as the TEK lights, becuase that's what makes them so nice.

[Cody Ray]

I agree on finding a good brand, most other brands only use a single reflector for all of the bulbs in the hood. By doing this, they are only as good as PC lightwise (however they will still have a longer bulb life than PC). If you plan on keeping clams and anemonies in the future, T-5s will be your best option, however, TEK lights will cost around $350 and that is for 4 bulbs.

[jimbo045]

PCs seem to be newer than T5s. JD

[Alaskan Reefer]

T5 with individual reflectors or VHO.

[horkn]

Originally posted by jimbo045
PCs seem to be newer than T5s. JD

t5ho is the newset, best option for non halide systems. and even then, the t5s are comparable to MH, and sometimes even better..

get a t5ho setup with individual parabolic reflectors, and you will be happy you didnt get vho or pc...

[bllfish]

pc's are newer, you replace them at least once a year:}

[hahnmeister]

You can get the parts seperately like I did for a 4x54wattT5, www.aqualuxlighting.com , and spend something like $150 on it all together...another $80 on bulbs...or more for an icecap 660 ballast, and you have one killer 55g lighting setup. T5 is the way to go...many halide loyalists are even jumping ship for the T5s.

[iCam]

I would go with either VHO or t-5. I have used VHO before and liked them, but from what I have gathered, t-5 are very good lights in that lighting category, and some would say the step under MH.

I personally don't like PC much.

[horkn]

Originally posted by bllfish
pc's are newer, you replace them at least once a year:}

[mburnickas]

Originally posted by ChinChek787
I agree on finding a good brand, most other brands only use a single reflector for all of the bulbs in the hood. By doing this, they are only as good as PC lightwise (however they will still have a longer bulb life than PC). If you plan on keeping clams and anemonies in the future, T-5s will be your best option, however, TEK lights will cost around $350 and that is for 4 bulbs.

go to RG online and pay like $240 for a 4 bulb tek likght: WITH 50% of the needed bulbs!

I had Pc and well, they are ok but T5 are about 5X better!

[bllfish]

You might want to do a search for T5's. There are a lot of different brands especially the bulbs out there and sometimes it pays to spend the extra money considering how much you are investing in livestock. There is a lot of good info on the forum. Some of our members have really experimented and come up with great suggestions.
I switched from PC to T5 and I it was well worth every penny I spent.

[warden13]

How long does a T5 bulb last? I heard PC lasts about 1 year.

[mburnickas]

I never got my PC to last one year. They woudl cause major cryano issues.

T5 (white color) will last about 15 to 18 months. Actinic will last about 12 to 14 months. These are rules of thumb.

[bllfish]

If not overdriven I have heard 18 months. I have only had mine for 6 months.

[hahnmeister]

nihonjin_anemone,
some would say that t5 are a step above halide as well.

[rljlll]

why would they it is a step above halides

[twkenny]

T5's and MH are, IMO the best options for lighting a reef tank. Each has it's own advantages. Having had both, I feel like T5 is the better setup, as long as it is done properly and you're not planning an all SPS and clam tank. T5's will support clams and SPS, but, halides will do it better. There is no substitute for a "point source" light like halides provide.
To answer the question, T5's are by far the better choice over PC's.
You may want to consider running a single VHO actinic along with your T5's, and this can be easily done if you are running an IceCap 660 ballast. You can mix in a VHO ONLY when using an Icecap. The URI actinic is hard to beat.
If you like the look of the Aquable and blue plus (T5) bulbs, you may not want an actinic. There are several T5 bulb selections, so you can mix and match to your liking.
Remember two things. Icecap, and parabolic reflector. These items will enable you to get the most out of your T5's.
Good luck, deciding on lighting is tough!

[twkenny]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
T5 is the way to go...many halide loyalists are even jumping ship for the T5s.

Me included!

[hahnmeister]

rljlll, to sum up why T5s might be considered better than halide for some applications... They put out something like 1.5x the PAR per watt that a halide does, and even are shown to carry that output deeper into the water than halides, and run much cooler.

After having seen some german reefs recently, and talking with Jeff Turner (co-founder of ORA and RAS), I believe that even the SPS/clam thing might be a myth, as there are many european reefs being run off of T5s only with exceptional SPS growth. I have also heard that some LPS types, and shrooms dont like T5s as much...perhaps because of their penetration...but I would consider deeper penetration to hardly be a flaw.

I still subscribe to the idea that halides are better for some other reasons...but I will be the first to admit that my mind is quickly changing. My earlier exposure to T5s (when better bulbs werent as available), was that it didnt compare due to halide's point source intensity, which by simple geometric calculations would conclude that a point source would be a better light for a coral than a linear bulb, esp with shallower water species, but in reality, after seeing other reefs now being run with T5s, that might not be all that is at play here.

[javajaws]

Another argument in favor of T5s (or PCs for that matter) are that they ARE NOT point light sources. With a point light source, you will not be illuminating your corals (especially vertically growing types like acros) as evenly as with a non-point light source. More even illumination equals more light for the coral to utilize. You can fix this problem with MHs if you use a motorized track.

[Alaskan Reefer]

I have both on the same tank (T5 and HQI) and each has its own advantages. The T5 runs cooler and gives you more spectrum options (more bulbs), while the HQI gives the ripple lines and shimmer. As far as penetration, that's pretty tough for me to really estimate -- although I've never had a T5 burn anything where the HQI clearly can. Both are good, and if going T5 make sure you get bulbs in the colors you want. I use 4XActinic+, 2XAquablue+, 2XDaylight and that side of the tank matches a 20K Radium HQI in color just about perfectly.

[David Grigor]

Just to confuse you even more, for a LPS/softy tank, I prefer the VHOs over the T5s ( used them for about a year on an icecap ballast ) and PCs. While PAR is certainly a factor for SPS, IMO it is less important for LPS/Softies. VHOs are just right.

[Alaskan Reefer]

I should have added, there's nothing wrong with a nice VHO array for what you plan, although you'd want to put clams closer to the top of the tank.

OH JUST GET SOME DANG LIGHTING IT'S ALL GOOD. LOL.