pc lights?

I have a 45 gallon reef hex tank. i am going to be running 6 55watt pc lights giving me a 7.3 watts per gallon. i have a ice cap ballast what will run 4 lights and another ballast which runs the other 2. now I will be building the ice cap and want to know is there a difference between square pin and stright pin, other than the design? run all 50/50s, is that a good idea? any good info?

50/50 will be fine. Only difference between square and straight is the mounting or socket. I think the icecap ballast will run t5s which would be a better choice.

What kind of coral do you plan on keeping? PC's are good for softys and some LPS but anything over them will need better lighting.

if you're using an icecap i would HIGHLY recommend using T5's in stead of the inefficient technology of PC's. they run a lower wattage, but are way better. don't worry about watts per gallon.

btw 660 or 430?

Please listen to them...that's on expensive mistake I made when I got into this hobby...I bought pc's instead of t5's...so if you can go with t5's, go ahead.

Same here go with t5's

I started with PC's just when t5s were gaining foot hold and twice as much. I bought t5s about a year later

Brian

Why t5s over pcs?I inly have 24"s of bulb space and need the wattage for a full reef tank. Thanks

T5's give you more light/lumens per watt...are more energy efficient, and run cooler(temperature wise)...you could keep pretty much anything under t5's, but are limited with pc lighting.

t5's put are slimmer, you can put more in the same space,
t5's are brighter, they put out more usable light per watt, making them more effecient.
More of the electricity used turns into light and less of it turns into heat.

Brian

+1 on your timing smitty

Brian

LOL...I'm bored at home, that's all.