t5ho vs t5

[Von digity]

I'm doing some research in t5's and I'm a tad confused.

 

I noticed the lowest HO t5 is the f24t5HO, then theres the f39t5Ho etc.. What about the 6"-12" range t5's. Are they suitable for reef-ish tanks? Two f4t5s (6") are a tad longer than a 13 watt pc, but put out 8 watts together. There are places online that sell 6500k ones for like 2 bucks a bulb. I'm thinking of daisy chaining them in the maner of 2-3 reflecltors (2 bulbs per reflector) for an akwardly narrow application. How do you think a 6"x6" area will be under 24 watts of t-5, versus a 27 watt pc or 3 13 watt pc's.

 

BTW, this is for a little planted refugium type tank idea, but I want it to be really, really efficient.

 

Thanks

[Rikko]

From my data sheet for some 6400K T5 NOs I get:

Length    Size      Lumens12"       8 watt    33024"       14 watt   130036"       21 watt   200048"       28 watt   275060"       35 watt   3400

 

Seems the tradeoff in lumens/watt isn't steady for all sizes.

 

Want my advice? Buy long tubes and invest in good reflectors for *each* tube. That's much more efficient that a bunch of small tubes with a DIY reflector.

 

BTW can you toss me a URL for a place selling the tubes that cheap? All the sites I saw were 25 bucks and up.

[Von digity]

Heres some f4t5 http://www.bulbman.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=452 (daylight)

 

http://www.bulbman.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=462 f13t5 (daylight)

 

Well, I have a design for a simple gullwing style reflector for each tube, and my space is limited, to a 6"X6" area. So I was thinking that if each bulb is like half an inch, each reflector could be 1 inch wide, leaving .25" between the bulb and the reflector. And that would give me enough room for 6 bulbs in my 6"x6" area.

 

However, these bulbs seem pretty puny. I may just stick with the 27 watt PC quad, or 3 13 watt PCs.