Confused on lighting t5 t6?

I believe we have done this tango before, I have had 3 oddysea fixtures, 1 t5 and 2 halide(1 3foot 1 4foot). I won't say they didn't get the job done but they didn't do it as good as some other fixtures. my hagen glo vastly out performed the t5 fixture when it came to growing plants.
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for the halides, my dad runs one still(gave it to him).The ballast they come with underdrive the halides(which I also believe was why the hagenglo out performed the other fixture too), on the bright side there is a mod to fix it that most people have success with.

on the topic of names, I have noticed a huge difference in coral growth from reputable brand name bulbs and ebay bulbs. Par doesn't lie.

 

Yep we have, LOL...

I have heard that about the GLO stuff but thats fresh water right. I haven't heard anything about using them on salt water. Not only that I was not even considering them when I made that statement.

I was pleasantly surprised on the quality when I got the halide fixture, but I will agree I think your right about under-driving, I have another fixture right next to it with the exact same bulb in it an I noticed it isnt quite as bright, but it works well enough for me for the 99 buck I paid for it.

I was speaking of some of the other name brands, I mean I have looked at almost all of them and I just do not see where they are worth 4 to 5 hundred dollars for a 4 bulb fixture. But that is just my opinion.

As far as bulbs go yeah you are right I go with nothing but named stuff on bulbs, I was talking about the fixtures. I just suggested the Aguatraders bulbs because they used to carry the T6 Bulbs in case he need replacement bulbs right now. I don't think anyone but GE makes T6 bulbs anymore do they? And the GE ones do not come in anything you can use on a tank.

 

Glo is pretty much fresh water because they only come in single or double bulbs, so you would need two for most corals.

most of the complete fixture are probably overpriced, which is why at this point I would only ever piece together my fixtures, by buying the ballast seperate of the reflector and socket/sockets.