T5 vs PC

[kastanzaman]

Could anyone explain to me the difference in performance between these two.
I keep hearing that T5 put out more light. So does this mean that for the same amount of wattage, T5s have greater PAR than PC. How many watts of PC would it take to achieve the same PAR as T5. I'm a bit confused by all this.


Also, which sets will get the best colors from corals. I have heard that some colors do not do well under these lights. My sps that were in a friends tank with T5 had some really nice colors when place high up, but a pink digi frag i had turned more of a pinkish tan, but has now started to turn back to bright pink under my MH.

 

[gordonzoo]

There is a lot out on this subject but I will sum it up from what I remember reading and why I chose T-5. I do not know watt for watt T-5 to PC but The T-5's single narrow tube allows for a much more efficient designed reflector thus directing more light (punch) into the tank and did not generate half the heat my old PC's did. This also lets you put more bulbs closer together. It is more expensive initially but less power consumption offsets this. As far as the colors I run two white and two Act/blues. My pure actinic did not last long but I like the color of the Actinic/Blue bulb anyhow. I currently have a 4 bulb Tek in my 90 gallon. I?m presently keeping a clam and two happy BTA?s. With a 6 or 8 bulb system I could put most anything in the tank. I would love to see a MH system next to a comparable wattage T-5 to see for myself.
Lighting

Rich

 

[nunofs]

To reinforce what Rich said, it's the reflectors that make all the difference when using T5s... a parabolic reflector will direct almost all the light that the bulb puts out into the tank, there's very little reabsorption (light that hits the bulb again) due to the narrow size of the bulbs. So if you're considering a T5 setup avoid the cheap fixtures that use a single flat reflector for all the bulbs, and go with individual parabolic reflectors, one per bulb.

Nuno