finaddict Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 thanks for the links Neal, I will be getting one(T5 coralfe) for my 90g cichlid tank just as soon as golds has them in....hahahaha..sooner the better they look great.. much better than a 40w strip light! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midgetwaiter Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 A couple things to consider. Bulb output is very much dependent on the ballast. The T5 system in the study linked to by RD was able to outperform a tri light T8 with that particular ballast but you can't assume that any T5 system would have higher output that any other T8 sytem without testing. Bulb life in the study is measured by output. This is an important concern for planted or reef tanks but not the only one, spectral drift is a problem as well. You might be putting out 8000 lumens still but if it is centered on 700nm (red) you will still need new bulbs. I suspect you can count on about 18 months of decent output from these Coralife bulbs, time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 Good points. Personally I'd be happy with 18-24 months out of a set of bulbs (freshwater, no plants) so we'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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