View Full Version : anyone use only power compacts on their reef?
6speedchevelle
10-19-2007, 10:25 PM
does anyone use only power compacts on their reef tank?
if so, can you show some pics??
I saw a few biocubes that are pc only. but was wondering if anyone uses them on larger tanks.
thanks
jojo22
10-19-2007, 10:26 PM
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102114
6speedchevelle
10-19-2007, 10:39 PM
very nice pics...thanks for the quick response.
how many watts did you have over your tank?
everything was healthy?
everyone has be worried about my powercompacts on this forum.
I have 260watts over 30 gal. softies, leathers ect... are ok with me. I dont need sps and clams to be happy
Fishieness
10-19-2007, 10:48 PM
i started out with 192 watts of PC over a 40 breeder, which is a pretty shallow tank. Everything was doing well. growing okay, colors not bad. and then i got MH and grown and color skyrocketed...
dont get me wrong, there are pleanty of tanks that do great with just PCs, especialy some softie tanks, but i dont think i'll ever use them as the soul light sorce again. However, of course, this is entirely my opinion :)
jojo22
10-19-2007, 11:02 PM
That was 96W on a 10 gallon.
We had 4 x 65w PCs on our 90g, but recently upgraded to 5 x 54w T5 HO. We grew softies and some LPSs very well under the PCs, but the cost of replacing the bulbs every 6 - 8 months was starting to get ridiculous. We also wanted to add a couple SPS to our tank, which is another reason we went with T5 HO.
BeelzeBob
10-20-2007, 12:17 PM
96 watt 50/50 over an 18 gal mantis tank
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/data/519/OCTFTS_2.jpg
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/data/508/BTSE.jpg
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/data/511/SPSFRONT.jpg
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/data/510/redlobocu.jpg
ive got it all. softies, zoos, several LPS, and ive even been able to successfully keep a nice SPS colony at the very top.
kay-bee
10-20-2007, 1:45 PM
I'm most likely upgrading to T-5's next month or so, but here's my 65-gal (LPS & softies) 3x 96w PC:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/Saltwater/65galreef.jpg
mwfishkeeper1
10-20-2007, 2:04 PM
Hey fsn77 i noticed that you only have 3w/gal of t-5 lighting... do you think thats enough? I have a 100 gal and I'm starting to look at lights so I can get some corals going in there. Are t-5s powerful enough with higher wattage, and would they requre me to run a chiller?
MW, the watts per gallon is a guideline and not very useful when it comes to T5s, especially when they are used with a good set of reflectors. They run cool too by the way.
TomToro
10-20-2007, 6:21 PM
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/TomToro/P1010003.jpg
3x24w on a 12 gal nanocube jbj. 2 10k and 1 03.
Hey fsn77 i noticed that you only have 3w/gal of t-5 lighting... do you think thats enough? I have a 100 gal and I'm starting to look at lights so I can get some corals going in there. Are t-5s powerful enough with higher wattage, and would they requre me to run a chiller?
Three of our 5 T5s are overdriven on an IceCap 660 ballast. All 5 T5s have the IceCap SLR individual reflectors. While I know perceived "brightness" doesn't necessarily mean much, the T5s are much brighter visually than the Coralife PC fixture we had. Generally, T5 HO is considered to be a more efficient lighting technology than PCs, making a direct comparison of wattage between the two similar to a comparison of apples to oranges. I don't see a particular need to run a chiller, at least not on our tank. I live in the South and a few computer fans in the canopy keep things cool enough.
BTW, all the pictures that can be found by clicking the link in my sig are from when our tank had the PCs.
3x24w on a 12 gal nanocube jbj. 2 10k and 1 03.
Tom I want that orange shroom.
soccerkidbs
10-20-2007, 10:15 PM
haha grins you seem to want to take a piece of everyones reef lol. if you did that you will need a bigger setup.
Grins
10-20-2007, 10:25 PM
haha grins you seem to want to take a piece of everyones reef lol. if you did that you will need a bigger setup.
As soon as you all fork it over I'll have a reason to upgrade. :clap:
TomToro
10-20-2007, 10:32 PM
Tom I want that orange shroom.
Bought it for $5.00. If you were closer, I'd try to frag it. So far, I'm trying to baby it so it will split like the blue mushrooms.
I'd trade it and $40.00 for your rbta. Mine died when a cracked MH bulb burned it before I could replace it.
Grins
10-20-2007, 10:35 PM
as much as I love the orange shroom I am lust with my rbta too much for that. Sorry to hear you lost your's.