Power Compact light pros and cons

I think halide puts out around the same amount of lumens as t5ho, but t5ho puts out more par.

I'm not sure about how long the high par levels last over the life span of the bulb tho.

 

I would call many of those figures for tank height and such to not be accurate.

The PC I would say could work, but I have seen many people keep montiporas happy under PC

Heck OD t8's with no reflectors have kept many SPS happy.

T5ho, SLR's can grow SPS very well on the bottom of a 24" tall tank. The tank I mention is Dr fragnestein's here on 3reef. His 220 PAR readings on the sand of his 180 witha 6 bulb retro is shocking. He could easily grow SPS at 30" depth with that light. And he was told to at bare minimum get 2 more bulbs to be able to keep SPS happy, even near the top!


250w MH can do a lot more depth for growing SPS than 18". This does depend on your reflectors bulb choice and ballast though.

400w MH are good for tanks as tall as around 5 feet, 1000w MH are only needed for very tall aquariums. Jeff Turner from Reef Aquaria Designs ( was COO of ORA) gave a very enlightening (pun intended) talk to our club a few years back, and showed these insane custom wall tanks that while tall, only used 400w MH.

 

agreed, I just didnt want to say anything I've keep easier light demanding sps under power compact's with good uvl bulbs about 12-16" under light fixture. LPS mid way, and all softies & derasa clam down close to sandbed around 23-26"" from light. bulbs,ballast.reflectors selection does make a big difference with whatever lighting (mh,t5,pcs,vho) system you decide to use. But now that I have MH on the new tank, I definitly like them with supplement t5s or led actinics, over pcs anyday.

 

i want your guys opinion on this since i am new would a 30'' hood (24'' long t5 bulb x2) work well for my 30 gallon 18" deep. The coral i have in there are kenya trees 4 types of zoas, GSP, and 4 rics. I have nuclear palys in there they seem to be getting brown as well as my mushroom. So Let me know if the light im talking about is good. Also would the light i mention be able to grow more variety of coral? I really like the bubble corals, frogspawn, and Folded Brain, or Crater Coral. Needless to say but all my corals are doing fantastic under my 17 watt 50/50 lol minus the palys.

 

jdi, I had a 35g that I ran 3x39 of t5ho retrofits with SLR's on. I actually had more issues with burning corals than not enough light.

Pick the right bulbs, and those types of corals will do totally fine.

I would do 1 ATI blue+ and one ATI or geisseman aquablue.

 

youd be ok with 2 bulbs on sofites and lps. if u want things to thrive or sps then 4 bulbs. I would atleast upgrade yuor t5 bulbs to (1) ati blus plus and (1) giessman aquablue bulbs. both bulbs put out alot of par which is a good thing.

 

great minds think alike! lol

 

I mention the ATI aquablue because they are cheaper than the GMan's.

G man bulbs are usually the most expensive t5s, well outside of the KZ bulbs.

 

well who cares it not our money. lol a extra $5 bucks wont kill him.

 

I guess that is just me being a buyer by trade.