pc lights?

[dirtydrew]

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?

 

[bobby]

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.

 

[ndepratt]

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?

 

[Smitty]

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.

 

[bjohanson1234]

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

 

[dirtydrew]

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.

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

 

[Smitty]

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.

 

[bjohanson1234]

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

 

[bjohanson1234]

+1 on your timing smitty

Brian

 

[Smitty]

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

 

[bjohanson1234]

same here
Just been emailing this guy thats interested in buying my kitchen table
been on and off here all day

 

[dirtydrew]

ok so you got me on t5hos.so how many lights should i go for? there going to be 24" long and 24watts per bulb in a 45 gallon hex tank. i want to be able to put all corals in my tank. do you have any recomened brands of bulbs, light bulb configs" all 50/50, half actinic etc." and different brand systems? dont want to spend a fortune, but want quality.

 

[ndepratt]

icecap ballast should overdrive each of those bulbs to 40W each, they will perform a lot better, with longer life if you have a fan blowing across the bulbs. they're not going to heat up your water much, but they just lose a bit of efficiency when they get into that heat range.

geisemann and URI bulbs are my personal choice for great quality without ridiculous price.

no 50/50 bulbs, just an even mix of 10k and actinic.

 

[daugherty]

what about gettig a 150watt or 175w mh that light will get the light all the way to the bottom and allow you to keep any coral. you are going to need more than 4 t5's but dont have the room for them with a hex tank. with a 14mh you will not need any other light to supliment the color it will have a blue hue to the tank

 

[bobby]

That's what I was thinking, but he already has the ballasts.

 

[daugherty]

the only prob is that t5's to penatrate very deep ionto the tank for usefull light maybe about 15 inches and at that level it will be all lower light corals and hex tanks are usually deep so a mh would work better but you just have to be aware that you will prob not be able to have any sps, clams or a nem. only moderate and low light corals hex tanks are just hard to light with enough light with the small surface area that is the only reason i would say get a MH but t5's work great for shallower tanks