[BIGDREWLEWIS]

How Do You Calculate Teh Amount Of Wats Per Gallon, I Am Doing The Research And Buying A T5 Light Fixture This Weekend Not Sure Which One...

[Tonz of fun]

T5s have a much greater amount of output per watts and water penitration. You cant really calculat it but depending on the fixture some put out 3 times more watts per watt of energy used. The fixture I put on your other thread will be all you ever need IMO. Native will be on later and he is the T5 guru. BUT HE IS OLD AND SLEEPS IN THE MORNING LOL. Just kidding i love you Native! Long story short. T5s conserve energy and are the most popular thing being used in Europe and have been for awhile. They are awesome!

[BIGDREWLEWIS]

Thanks I Will Wait For The Wise One Nativeman To Wake From His Slumper

[CyberJester]

Originally Posted by BIGDREWLEWIS

How Do You Calculate the Amount of Watts per Gallon, I Am Doing the Research and Buying a T5 Light Fixture This Weekend Not Sure Which One...

Watts per Gal is a simple measurement. Take the amount of watts produced by the lighting unit and divide that by total tank capacity. Example 2 x 54 Watt T5's in a 90 Gal. 108/90 = 1.2. So you have 1.2 watts per gal.

Now lighting efficiency is a different story. The amount of useable light directed towards a subject is more what you are interested in. Supposedly T5’s are popular because they are very small tube lights that when combined with INDIVIDUAL REFLECTORS for each tube, direct almost 100% of its light in to the water. So there is no loss of light, hence more lighting efficiency.

The debate as to which is better (Metal Halides, T5’s, PC, ect...) rages on . A couple of things are very well known fact though. Metal Halides produce a very high amount of heat, making it almost a certainty that a chiller will be needed. Metal Halides consume a lot of power in both their consumption and the consumption of the items it takes to control the temperatures of both the tank and the surrounding environment. They are also generally less efficient then the T5’s, however they produce large amounts of light. The bulbs are more expensive for the MH’s as compared to both T5’s and PC’s.

Guess the thing is to do research and find out which suits your needs better. I have seen people here and other places swear by both and say the other is an inferior product. It’s a choice like anything else in this hobby. Best thing to do is jump on the computer and do your research.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

First of all Greg, I may be old but I am up and working every day including saturdays and sundays lol.And I will be 64 in november.Second of all power compacts and t 12 vho are so poor when it comes to bulb life and the efficiency of light distribution they should not be considered by anyone for aquarium lighting.The reflectors on t 5's are bent in such a way as to take the light from the back of the bulb and direct it into the tank.Since the direct light from just about any bulb that reach's the tank come from the 1/3 of the bulb facing the water,fully 2/3 is lost in space.With 9 bend reflectors all of the light from 360 degrees of a t 5 bulb ultimatly gets to the tank.Mh light are point source lights and do no distribute there light evenly over the bottom of the tank. I actually proved this to others at an lfs nearby with a 1 degree spot meter I use for photography.T 5 is a broad source light and distributes the light much more evenly over the bottom of the tank,and the shadows caused by it are not nearly as dark as with mh.

[Tonz of fun]

OK OK I was just having a little fun. And besides dont you get up earlier as you get older??? I work for a guy that gets up at 5am everyday just because...lol love ya buddy

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Naaaaaa Greg I wait all the way till 5:30 to get up lol

[Tonz of fun]

I bet you have the best looking garden on the street huh...