Watt the...

...if you get 300W of pc lighting vs. 300W of halides, is there reaLLy a difference wiLL the coraLs know... i know like any living thing, the coraLs adapt to what is avaiLable...hmmmm :scratchch

As far as I understand it (and there certainly are people who know a LOT more than me on lighting) MH and T5 lighting will penetrate deeper in a tank than PC's. I have read that you can't equate T5 lighting like that- since it seems to be much, much more intense than PC lighting.

inkblue said:

...if you get 300W of pc lighting vs. 300W of halides, is there reaLLy a difference wiLL the coraLs know... i know like any living thing, the coraLs adapt to what is avaiLable...hmmmm :scratchch

Click to expand...

Yes because MH lighting has greater intensity than PC. The term used to measure intensity is PAR. MH lighting has many times greater Par than PC, VHO, and T5's. The corals can tell the difference

soRRy, by PC, I meant VHO, T5s and whatEver else is out there... versus MH :arg: :p

inkblue said:

soRRy, by PC, I meant VHO, T5s and whatEver else is out there... versus MH :arg: :p

Click to expand...

nothing comes close to MH. You should visit a bunch of our members reefs and see for yourself.

I have visited a bunch of peePs here... thieR tanks look aweSome :yeah: i just don't thinK i caN deal with the heat MH produces... it's a kiLLer :dead1:

What do you plan on keeping in the tank anyway?

inkblue said:

...if you get 300W of pc lighting vs. 300W of halides, is there reaLLy a difference wiLL the coraLs know... i know like any living thing, the coraLs adapt to what is avaiLable...hmmmm :scratchch

Click to expand...

you can't equate the two just based on wattage, many other factors are in play like spectrum for example. there are a number of good articles out there on RC but I don't have any links handy...... Deanos?

Right now, i prefer anything but sPs due to the fact i reaLLy would like to stay away from halides... :smoker:

use t5's and you can keep anything but sps, VHO's work as well, but to be honest they all produce heat. maybe the vho's are less. the ballasts are cool at least.

you can go with 175's or 250's mh they do not produce that much heat compared to the 400's i run now. i had p.c also they were cool. but not to strong if you are going to grow softies then they are cool. i say go with 175. you will be happy..

Mike, i gotta go to your house to pick up stuff... 175 for a 72? Isnt that too loW ? :smokin:

jhale said:

use t5's and you can keep anything but sps, VHO's work as well, but to be honest they all produce heat. maybe the vho's are less. the ballasts are cool at least.

Click to expand...

Jon actually T5's will work great for SPS assuming the water quality is high. Check out this T5 lit SPS reef:shocked1:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

yeah- i've seen some sick sps tanks with T5 lighting. There are a lot of people out there who are saying that it is more intense than MH even (plus it puts off very little heat)- I don't have experience with either though, so I'm just restating what I've read...

let me clarify- i meant T5s are reported as being as intense, if not more so, than MH at shallow depths- for deeper tanks MH is probably the way to go.

Jackson, awesome articLe... perfect for me and my waLLet... T5 it is then :smokin:

FYI , guYs I've bought from have been giving me frags of this and that... THANKS you Jonathan, Kris, Michael, Don, Ronen (i h0pe i didnt miSs anyone), and they are doing well with PC (130W)... most are starting to grOw and one that I bought from Ronen, started dividing within 48hrs... :icon16: s0 i guEss its a case-to-casE basis... just like some peopLe die of cancer from smoKing and otherS do not... (RIP Uncle Tony)

The corals wil live with T5, but you'll never get that shimmer effect that metal halide gives, thas the beauty of it, lol

OHHHH... see you gguyS never said anything about beauTy... alRight, i get it... :lol:

let me know when you want to come by. belive me dude buy the mh's because in the future your going to wind up buying them anyway. once this dam hobby consumes you it will consume your $$$$$. how is the toadstoll doing. and the other corals i gave you..

Bro, I started off with NO flourescents, didnt like them went to powercompacts, was happy with them for about 3 months until I saw tank lit up with metal halides, bought the halides, saw Jhale's tank with the vho superactinics, bought those, go with the halides. Only time you might have a problem with heat is in the summer, but for now, I use my halides as my heater.