T-5 vs PC lighting

[tabman2]

I'm about to go get some new lighting for my 29gal and got a quick question.

T-5 24" 14 watt- Includes one 10,000K Daylight and one True Actinic 03 Blue
I would be gettin 2 of those So 4 bulbs total 2 10,000K - 2 Actinic 03 ... Or!

Power Compact 24" 1-65 watt actinic 03 blue and 1-65 watt 10,000k compact fluorescent lamp.

Both Coralife Brand.

What should I go with? And is either okay for newbie corals?

I see that the watt per gallon rule of thumb is dying as I type. Any suggestions would also be great. Thx!

 

[mrsdorothy]

Are you talking about a light fixture or a retrofit kit? If this is a fixture the 24" fixture would be 6" too short for the 29g since it is 30" long. So you will need a 30 inch fixture. I perfer T5's over pc's, but since I could not find a T5 light fixture that was 30", I went with the pc.

 

[aardvark1]

Big als sell a Coralife fixture for a 29 that has two T-5 bulbs in it (18 watts each, AIR). About $40.

Got one on my 29 gallon community tank-happy with it!

 

[fsn77]

You will get much more light intensity out of the PC lighting you mentioned than the T5 lighting you mentioned.

The T5s you are referring to are normal output T5s, not the T5 HO that are typically used on a reef. A 24" T5 HO bulb is 24w and will provide the most bang for the buck when used with individual reflectors for each bulb. I'm not sure if you noticed the difference or not, but I wanted to point it out just in case before you spend your money. To run the T5 HO bulbs, you would need a fixture / retrofit kit with a ballast that is meant to run them, such as this. I'm not recommending this fixture, but notice the price difference.

 

[tabman2]

Thank you very much fsh77! And thank you everyone for the additional info.

I will most likely be going with the 30 " PC combo.
Being new to lighting I did not know about t-5 HO.

thank you again everyone. And the nova system on that site is on sale lol!

My main place of shopping would be Big Al's in Edmonton. I didn't notice any t-5 ho systems there though. Prolly gonna wait for boxing day to see if there's a discount on lighting, might save some $$