Another dumb lighting question

[sharuq1]

What is better, a 4 bulb 54w tek or 4 bulbs of 65W pc (which is basically 8 bulbs)? I know this is a stupid question but hey

[albert_dao]

The HOT5 will always be better than PC.

[Delphinus]

Where T5's really "shine" (sorry no pun intended) is in the far better reflectors they have.

Also, ... take a look at the cost of replacement lamps. T5 vs PC is a no-brainer if you ask me (T5's = $20/lamp, PC's = $40ish? I think? Last time I checked anyhow .... unless you go with some no-name brand.... But the $20 T5's are top-brand name lamps.).

[bv_reefer]

i'd go with T5's in ur case i've never heard any negative as far as there light output goes, i'm just going with pc, because i found a decent retrofit kit, and yup ur right delphinus, pc's range from the 30's(SP) to the high 40's(SQ), for coralife at least

[Myka]

I vote for T5s too.

[sharuq1]

That's what I thought you would say, just the only thing I worried about was basically going down in wattage and if you consider each piece in the pc, going down in bulb no. too. In any case I wanted opinions If you have more it is appreciated, then I don;t have to keep justifying the cost of the fixture

[Myka]

You can't really compare the number of watts to eachother when the bulbs are of different styles. 150w of NO isn't comparable to 150w of PC, which isn't comparable to 150W of T5s, which isn't comparable to 150w of MH. Different lights have different intensities. The wattage isn't an accurate way of comparing intensity. The same as watts per gallon isn't an accurate way of comparing intensity either. Too many variables.

[gqlmao]

Output wise HO t-5s all the way! that is if they are in individual reflectors. PCs arent that great just cause... well pricing is one of them, and their bulb life is only 6 months which is half of what expected t-5s life are. I had pcs before but i ditched those for t-5s. Wattage is different for each type of lighting and it is hard to compare numbers of pc to t-5s, just cause there is more wattage doesn't mean more output.