1044 watts to much light?

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schigara

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I am no light expert but I have read that the PAR output of PC's is not nearly as much as T5 Ho's with individual reflectors. Spanned across a 6' long tank, I doubt it would be nearly enough for SPS and maybe not enough for LPS.

I have 2 250w MH's on a 4' tank and just changing from 15k XM's to 12k Reeflux bulbs, I have seen my SPS turn from drab colors to really beautiful colors. The point is, you could keep LPS and SPS but the colors would probably really suffer. Watts don't really matter if the PAR isn't there.

I think it is better to overkill on lighting so down the road, if you spot a gorgeous Acro or clam at a store, you don't have to think twice about your lights. Pc's are good for softies. T5's are good for softies and LPS and SPS but must have some darn good T5's for the SPS or a good array of them. MH is good for everything.
 
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schigara

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I have just never read or hear of a successful LPS/SPS tank using only PC lighting, no matter the wattage. You can only physically fit so many lights above a tank.

The highest growth in stony coral has been at 6500-10,000K.

Hey, you can always try it and see.

If watts were the only thing that mattered, we could all save a ton of money and put 10x 100w incandescent bulbs over an SPS tank.
 

clown-lover

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I guess my question is have you already purchased the units. If you haven't and you want to do SPS I would invest in some good MH. If you can afford it go with the ice cap ballasts and lumanarc reflectors. Effective but I have seen some great growth off of that combination.
 

scootrnerd

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I guess my question is have you already purchased the units. If you haven't and you want to do SPS I would invest in some good MH. If you can afford it go with the ice cap ballasts and lumanarc reflectors. Effective but I have seen some great growth off of that combination.
well i have the 4x96 on my 55 now and i found some other pc i can get cheap
 

Amphiprion

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With that much electricity and bulbs, you may as well just go metal halide. Bulb replacement costs will eat you alive, otherwise. Why not just invest in a couple of good 250-400w metal halides with a few blue or actinic T5s. You will still probably come out cheaper short term and definitely cheaper long term. What are the dimensions on the tank? And to answer your original question, no that isn't too much light.
 

Ace25

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I agree with the rest. PCs are terrible lights for SPS/LPS. They can work, yes, but barely. Look at it this way.

Average Bulbs
1 65w PC light puts out 40 PAR Watts
1 24w T5HO puts out 80 PAR Watts
1 70w MH puts out 90 PAR Watts

so, for you:

16 65w PCs = 640 Par watts for 1044w of power used
16 24w T5HO = 1280 Par watts 384w of power used

Almost 1/3 the power for a T5HO and 2x the PAR output.

Also, like already mentioned, are you really going to change out that many PC bulbs at $20+ ea every 9-12months?
 

Ace25

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Ya, but you will be paying that each month in electricity also, not to mention the cost of bulb replacement. Even if it is only 10 96w lights, that is still a lot of money in bulbs each year on top of the power bill. On top of that your spending all that money on power and only getting back 1/2 of the light you would get from a T5HO and spending 3x the $ to do that. Why? You can get some cheap Icecaps or something similar just by looking at local reef clubs, craigs list, etc.

If it were my choice I wouldn't even think about going with PCs now that I know better.
 
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