Power Compact vs T5 lighting

R

rsw686

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Feb 27, 2007
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I can't spend more than $300 on the lights for my 90gal tank and I'm debating between 3 Current USA fixtures.

Nova Extreme HO T5 -- 4 x 54w, 4 lunar $199 -- 2.4 watts per gal
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204900/product.web

Dual Satellite -- 4 x 65w, 2 lunar $228 -- 2.8 watts per gal
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204926/product.web

Orbit -- 4 x 65w, 4 lunar $266 -- 2.8 watts per gal
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204896/product.web

The Orbit looks to be the same as the Satellite, just a different housing and 2 more lunar lights. I currently have a Satellite 2x65w on my 56gal and have been happy with it.

I've google'd T5 vs power compact and I've read things that say T5 lights appear brighter than power compacts at the same wattage. Is this true? Or does the watts matter more. As it is any choice is only going to get me in the 2 watts per gallon range. I know Current USA's high end metal halide lights have T5s actinic's on there as well.

Any feedback on this would be great. Also how how long to the bulb's last between T5 and power compacts. The T5 bulbs are 10 bucks cheaper, but thats not a big deal to me. I also noticed that the power compact bulbs are 7,500 and 10,000k on the one and 420 and 460 actinic on the other bulb. Where as the T5's are just 10,000k and 460. Not sure if the dual wavelengths matter?
 
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I believe (and could be wrong) the main difference comes from the reflectors. A really good set of reflectors on a power compact unit (like the ones at ahsupply.com) would beat the heck out of a big single reflector on a t5 unit.

Now, if both had really good reflectors, the t5 would probably win out, but you can't necessarily say t5s are just better than power compacts, in my opinion (and I own a unit of both right now).

If'n I were you, I'd look used, probably. I don't know where you're located, but the classifieds here, at reefcentral.com and maybe even local clubs, oh and craigslist, are great resources. You get a really nice setup, buy brand new bulbs and you might still be ahead of the game.

All that being said, I have the first fixture (in the 48 inch variety) and it's pretty good, but only about 10 inches wide. I have to remember to move it back towards the front of the tank after I'm done doing maintanance.

:)
 
T5s are more efficient at light output than PCs... and greatly more efficient when individual reflectors are used. I attended a talk recently where it was explained why PCs aren't quite as good as hyped up to be when they first came out way back when. Due to the way PC bulbs are bent back on themselves (instead of being a linear bulb), there is substantial loss of output compared to its potential if it were a linear bulb (don't remember the stated amount).

Watts doesn't mean anything other than the amount of energy the lights are consuming. It has no consistent or relevant meaning toward the amount of light being generated. Think of it in terms of the screw-in fluorescent bulbs that are being more heavily marketed for home use over incandescent bulbs. There's 10w screw-in fluorescents that generate the same amount of light as a 40w incandescent bulb. The screw-in fluorescent uses far less watts than the incandescent bulb, but generates the same amount of light. Using watts to compare lighting types is very misleading, especially when you consider the numerous bulb choices available. Different combinations of bulbs in a fixture for your tank will create different amounts of useable light.

If it were me, I'd go with the T5s over PCs. There's a greater amount of bulb variety for T5s, and there was a thread floating around ReefCentral awhile back where a guy actually measured light output of T5s with no reflector in his canopy over his tank (canopy was simply painted white on the inside), compared his PAR values (one measure of light output) to values posted by other users, and determined that even without any type of actual reflector the T5s were still incredibly bright.

We have PCs on our tank and I'm changing to T5s. T5 bulbs last longer 18 - 24 months vs. 6 - 10 months for PCs, cost less per bulb (~$20 for T5s, ~$25 for PCs), there's greater bulb variety, and even on our friend's tank where he switched from PCs to T5s, there's a significant visual difference in how bright his tank is. He bought a Nova Extreme T5 fixture, btw, which only has a single reflector, but is still far brighter than the PCs he was using before.
 
If you wanted T5s with individual reflectors and don't mind some DIY, you could get a Tek T5 retrofit kit from someplace like reefgeek.com -- 4 x 54w = $300 -- or even an IceCap T5 retrofit kit -- 4 x 54w = $300. The IceCap retrofit overdrives the bulbs, which is said to increase the bulb output by 50 - 60%, but overdriving the bulbs does shorten the bulb life some. The only other thing you would need (other than a canopy) is some fans to keep things cool. If you shop around, you may find some better prices or a sale, or possibly something used locally.

It's costing me about $375 to retrofit up to 6 bulbs into our canopy for our 90g (bought enough parts for 6, but only 5 might fit), using 1 IceCap 660 and a T5 HO ballast from ballastwise.com (price includes everything but the cooling fans, which I'm installing computer fans into our canopy).
 
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FSN77,

Question for you:

If I have a PC setup that drives 4x55 watt PC, could I just cut the wires, DIY in some t5 endcaps, and use 4x54 watt T5 bulbs, without switching ballasts?

I'm not concerned with now, necessarily, but like you said, when the bulbs go bad, they're quite a bit more expensive than their t5 counterparts.
 
Subliminal said:
If I have a PC setup that drives 4x55 watt PC, could I just cut the wires, DIY in some t5 endcaps, and use 4x54 watt T5 bulbs, without switching ballasts?
Click to expand...

I wondered this myself before buying the T5 ballast and the IceCap 660. Apparently, there's a lot of us that wonder if it can be done. Someone on ReefCentral tried it and got the bulbs to light, but didn't measure if the bulbs were generating as much light as they're designed to do. There were also some concerns raised about the PC ballast shortening the bulb life of the T5s. Clearly, it can be done to some degree, but I'm by no means any sort of electrician or electrical engineer to know enough to say that it works like it should or that it's even safe. I was going to try it myself and see how long the T5 bulbs would last (and try to borrow a light meter from someone to measure the output), but then I realized the cost of a ballast designed for T5s (~$40) was worth the money versus the risk of starting a fire and potentially burning down our house.
 
fsn77 said:
If you wanted T5s with individual reflectors and don't mind some DIY, you could get a Tek T5 retrofit kit from someplace like reefgeek.com -- 4 x 54w = $300 -- or even an IceCap T5 retrofit kit -- 4 x 54w = $300. The IceCap retrofit overdrives the bulbs, which is said to increase the bulb output by 50 - 60%, but overdriving the bulbs does shorten the bulb life some. The only other thing you would need (other than a canopy) is some fans to keep things cool. If you shop around, you may find some better prices or a sale, or possibly something used locally.

It's costing me about $375 to retrofit up to 6 bulbs into our canopy for our 90g (bought enough parts for 6, but only 5 might fit), using 1 IceCap 660 and a T5 HO ballast from ballastwise.com (price includes everything but the cooling fans, which I'm installing computer fans into our canopy).
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good idea. I'm going to be building the stand for the new tank (none of the ones for $200 in the stores impress me) and could build a canopy as well. I'm just undecided whether I want a canopy or not. I can easily add in some fans to cool the canopy down. A canopy with 80mm fans is probably much quieter than the satellite I have now with what look to be 40mm fans.

I looked at reefgeek.com and for retrofit kits its $300 for HO and $360 for VHO. The VHO states it over drives the bulbs to 85 watts. I'm assuming the bulbs last about half as long so about 1 year.

I found a Tek light for $280. This looks to be a good option if I don't build a canopy as it uses single reflectors. Whats your opinion on this light?

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=SL-960035&Category_Code=SunlightT5
 
aquacave.com is where i plan on getting my lighting, same price as the other guys BUT if you spend this much money you get to chose some free stuff.

I plan on getting twin tube TEK T5 retrofit lights.
 
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