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Originally Posted by leveldrummer
can some one give a quick explanation of the t-5, vho, pc and the differences in them all. something for us noobs to understand.?
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Power compacts (PCs) were to be a major improvement on standard fluorescent and they were. But they still could not come close to Metal Halides. They provide more light in a wider area that standard NO bulbs can.
VHO (Very High Output) are widely used and are very good for growing most types of Corals including SPS. The bulbs are larger than T5's and smaller than standard fluorescents. A Good choice for retro kits but still not as good as Metal Halides.
T5 is a smaller tube in diameter. Using the right reflectors they can produce more light than VHO, Take up less space and produce less heat.
Metal Halides stand out from the crowd. Retro kits, Pendants and fixtures are available with a wide variety of bulb types including Mogul sockets (Screw in) SE (Single ended) and DE (Double Ended) HQI's. They are available in 75W, 150W, 250W and now 400W. What wattage to choose would depend on what you plan to keep and the depth of your tank.
As an example, On my 75 gallon. It's 4 feet long by 18 inches wide and 20 inches deep. Due to the fact it's not really deep I went with 2 150W DE HQI's using 2 T5 Actinics as supplements. I only run the HQI's 8 hours a day as any more could burn the corals.
There are many people that have used nothing but T5 HO's and had all the success with SPS as others with Metal Halides. The only thing that Metal Halides can do that no other current product can is the "shimmer" effect. I just love it. Makes it a little hard to take pictures but the effect is incredible. Check out
www.garf.org for some pictures of tanks using only T5 HO's.
There are currently several companies working on LED lighting that is purported to rival Metal Halides in both intensity and even produces the famous "Shimmer". None of these are on the market yet. I am currently in discussions with the owner of IceCap regarding Beta testing for them. Hopefully something comes through and I can do a side by side comparison for everyone to benefit from and hopefully providing a new alternative to lighting that is very economical.