Power compact light?

[BC1906]

Anyone have any experience with power compact lights? I picked up a red sea 130d that has them that I'm using for a frag tank. Immediately I noticed that they wash out the colors of the corals compared to my LEDs. Do they grow coral well or should I put my led light over it?

 

[Mr. Bill]

If you use the 50/50 bulbs, they have a good color spectrum. One problem with PC is that by design, they produce low PAR. T5HO or LED would be far better, especially for SPS and other high-light corals. Another is that the bulbs are a bit pricey, and only good for about 6 months.

 

[AdamNC]

For some LPS, Soft and Zoas they are fine.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

I had pc's on my tank for about a year. I switched over to led's ,now my tank looks like a new tank. My corals are growing faster now. I think pc's are a light of the past. They also use to much power and produce a lot of heat.

 

[BC1906]

Thanks. I'll probably take the hood off and put my leds over it. Mainly growing LPS but the power compacts do put off a lot of heat

 

[Annahra]

I just retrofit my Nano Cube from PCs to a NanoBox kit. I'm still adjusting but I love the flexibility of the new system.