Pc's to t5's
- Thread starter Prince916
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kgross
Local Fish Store Owner
t5's them selves are not any better than PC's. But a t5 setup can be much better than pc's because you can put good reflectors on the t5's. PC's can not put a lot of light into the tank because you can not make good reflector for them. T5s are small enough that good reflectors are available. With a good reflector a t5 setup can come close to 50% more light into the tank over a good PC setup, and can be close to 75% more light that a bad PC setup.
Kim
Kim
Mr.Firemouth
FIREMOUTH WIZARD
Best reflector on the market IMO, it doubles as a heat sink and helps cool the bulbs....
http://www.icecapinc.com/01/t5 reflectors.htm
I will NOT own a T5 lamp without an Icecap Ballast overdriving them.
Steven Pro is VP of Icecap and he showed our club a demonstration of the T5 and he did PAR readings against Tek Lights with more lamps than his Icecap setup with the same bulbs and the overdriven lamps kicked royal butt!!!!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1550088
http://www.icecapinc.com/01/t5 reflectors.htm
I will NOT own a T5 lamp without an Icecap Ballast overdriving them.
Steven Pro is VP of Icecap and he showed our club a demonstration of the T5 and he did PAR readings against Tek Lights with more lamps than his Icecap setup with the same bulbs and the overdriven lamps kicked royal butt!!!!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1550088
Prince916
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Well a friend of mine gave me a 6x54watt t5's fixture with individual german polished reflector. Just dont know what brand it is but the ballast says ADVANCE. Would this be good enough to keep some sps and maybe anemones? Will t5's also penetrate through the bottom better than pc's?
I have a 90g 48".
I have a 90g 48".
kgross
Local Fish Store Owner
I would say that is fine for keeping SPS corals.
Mr Firemouth.
How does that reflector act as more of a heat sink than any of the other clip on reflectors?
Overdriving the lights will put out more light, The icecap 660 does overdrive the bulbs 50% so it should put out close to 50% more light than a normal ballast. But normally with flour bulbs as you increase the wattage the efficiency goes down. So if you have the room for more bulbs you will get more efficiency by running a standard t5 ballast rather than overdriving them with the icecap ballast.
What I am getting at is that there are a lot of things that can effect the light output of a bulb. Myself I see no reason why to not use any of the good T5 fixtures on the market. Most of which do not have icecap ballasts and do not overdrive the bulbs.
On other issue with the tek fixture, and most other fixtures is that there is no cooling of the bulbs, if you put a couple of fans on the fixture you can get more light out of the bulbs without changing the ballast.
Kim
Mr Firemouth.
How does that reflector act as more of a heat sink than any of the other clip on reflectors?
Overdriving the lights will put out more light, The icecap 660 does overdrive the bulbs 50% so it should put out close to 50% more light than a normal ballast. But normally with flour bulbs as you increase the wattage the efficiency goes down. So if you have the room for more bulbs you will get more efficiency by running a standard t5 ballast rather than overdriving them with the icecap ballast.
What I am getting at is that there are a lot of things that can effect the light output of a bulb. Myself I see no reason why to not use any of the good T5 fixtures on the market. Most of which do not have icecap ballasts and do not overdrive the bulbs.
On other issue with the tek fixture, and most other fixtures is that there is no cooling of the bulbs, if you put a couple of fans on the fixture you can get more light out of the bulbs without changing the ballast.
Kim
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