I was wondering what is the better setup. Does it matter. Im working on a 180 planted tank with CO2 bottle. What type of light is best or is the only thing that matters is kelvin in which case do I stick with 6500 day, can i use 10,000 sun or should I use the 3000 Flora grow?????
Lighting ?T5-T12VHO- Power Compact????
- Thread starter zigis
- Start date
If you are looking at penetration and or high PAR then the T-5's are best, cheapest to run and cheapest for bulb replacement.
The other formats you listed besides T5HO are a waste of money if you're buying new. Old inefficient technology. The only other type of lighting worth mentioning would be metal halide and it's really not necessary to deal with the heat they produce. T5s are all you need.
OK T5 seem to be the recommened source of light but how much. This 2-4 watt per gallon seems like a bad way to judge light if you think about the lighting difference between tall tank and a shallow one. The gallons capacity of the tank does not matter the depth does. Is their anyone running a 24" deep tank with T5s and how much?
Just trying to do this right the first time.
Just trying to do this right the first time.
I cant say anything about FW but when I had my reef running and a friend of mine we were useing T-5's on 24 inche deep tanks and were keeping clams and SPS's on the sand bed. What makes T-5's great are the reflectors and qaulity bulbs and compared to PC's they will put out almost double the light and penetrate almost twice as deep and at 24 inches almost triple the par value.
198w x 3 fixtures = 594w/180g = 3.3 wpg. Is the Co2 pressurized? Are you wanting to go high tech?
The amount of heat generated from MH's is unnecessary...I personally would save the hassle and find a single T5 strip/fixture. Would likely save some cash.
The amount of heat generated from MH's is unnecessary...I personally would save the hassle and find a single T5 strip/fixture. Would likely save some cash.