lighting question

[MERCTECH]

i have a GE single fixture 120vac, 60hz, 18watts, class p type ballast. has a f18t8 bulb in it. i would like to know what kind of bulb i can put in it, until i have enough money to buy a complete set up. see i got some brain coral off the coast and pay day isn't until friday. i have a 55 gallon 48inches long, 24 inches tall.

 

[drillsar]

18watts im afraid isnt going to do much in a 55gal. Brain Coral you have in it? If you have a brain coral you need a lot of light,,

Moderate to high lighting which is usually 3-5 watts per gallon.
165watts - 275watts

T5 Lighting I think is the best of course Metal halides are but they give up so much heat.

 

[theatrus]

As stated, you need way more lighting. 4x65W is a good place to be.

 

[Brenden]

As stated not near enough light. Unlike drillsar I love my MH lighting. So does my power company.

 

[drillsar]

I dont like MH for a couple of reasons like you stated to much power and can cause heat problems in tank. T5 almost give off the light as MH, less power, less heat.

 

[Guest]

IMO T-5 is not all that it was made out to be.. Kind of like HO before VHO. If that is any comparison.. It would take 8 T-5 tubes to make what 4 96W PC's or 2-175 MH's with 2X65 PC's would do and The MH and PC's would be much better... Same cost in electricity...

Many options... With proper ventilation, any lighting mentioned above could work great and support a brain

 

[drillsar]

I totally disagree.. There was a guy that did PAR measurments and t5's blew PC away. compared 4 x 54w (216w) 260wPC, the true lumens that t5 give off is way more then what PC's give off.

t5's get a bad name because lot of them dont have its own reflector.

 

[drillsar]

HERES what he did: As you can see t5's Are good:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=724967

 

[emorrison33]

I agree with drillsar partially....it's not really a matter of total wattage but the lumens. Perfect example being the flourescent light bulbs for your home lamp. You can have a 13 watt bulb, but it puts out the amount of light of a 40 watt incandescent. Sorry I'm not more technical, but this is how I understand it.

 

[cmor1701d]

T5's get a bad name because lot of them dont have its own reflector.

Actually many T5 fixtures have their own reflector but that's not the problem for the poor performance. They need to have their own parabolic reflector. There is a huge difference in the output based on the reflector. Go back and read the thread you linked and others on that forum.

 

[drillsar]

Yeah I know the parabolic reflector. But t5 give off alot of lumens compared to other bulbs.