Quote:
Originally Posted by dhavoc
i have both. while the catalina is pretty damn good, i still prefer my tek's. personal bias maybe, but they just "appear" so much brighter to me.
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Brighter using the same exact bulbs? If the bulbs are not identical I am not sure that you can compare which fixture is getting more light into the tank based on the design of the unit and quality of reflectors. It would be great if there was info available as to what the PAR level differences are between the two using identical bulbs over the same size and depth tank. Obviously don't expect anyone to have that info but hopefully that is the kind of info will become available once people start getting their recently ordered $150 PAR meters and running some tests. I have no doubt that the TEK is the better fixture of the two but at approximately twice the price without bulbs (if you are comparing the 48" 4 x54 models) I would want a significantly higher "bang for the buck" from the TEK before I could justify spending the extra money. You can buy the Catalina, replace the bulbs with Geismanns and still spend a lot less than the cost of the TEK with no bulbs.