Sun(!?) Tube Reflectors vs Reflectors with Glass Tube vs Reflectors with Flat Glass..

How's it goin guys, I just had a quick question about Reflectors. I was wondering what the pro's and con's of each one of these are. (I know there are a few others - but these are more or less the ones I'm interested in for my set up.)

Please note these aren't pictures of the actual reflectors Im lookin at, but they are for reference of the ones I'm asking about.







I'm gonna be runnin a 6" cage fan as well attached to the reflector and housing a 1000w HPS bulb. Would I need to get a reflector with 8" opening for the exhaust? or do you think a 6" would be alright?

Thanks in advance.

sorry guys, but I wanted to bump this..

Ill throw my 2 cents in . The glass tube allows cooler air to pass through MUCH easier and MUCH less interrupted . A MUCH smoother flow . Plus the usually weigh less . I used to run the hydrofarm raptor 6 , big heavy bastard , but none the less a great reflector , and the new ones with the latches holding the glass rock . Excellent reflective material inside as well . I like to tinker so tried a similar tube style to the one pictured above . The only one i tried so far was one from a budget company , which even though it was a little cheesey looking at first , it had a good reflective value , a nice light spread , and was a little smaller than the raptor 6 . Much lighter as well . I ran an 8" fan reduced to 6" ducting , why i did that is an efficiency topic , so to continue , i got one of those little round guys and mounted it to a very sensative counter ..... well i noticed quite a bit more flow as the numbers spun up a significant amount faster . So i did a little test with styrofoam , and like I knew it would , the air bounced around inside the raptor , again , rather than travelling smoothly . PLUS the glass tube since it is a glass tube , there is almost no heat transferring to the actual hood . The raptor , since the bulb is not enclosed , transfers more heat to the actual hood and radiatesit into the room air .

So in my humble opinion , heres what I should have done ..... kept the raptor and got a glass tube that would fit it . I still love the raptor , but I gotta say , I CAN get the tube style down close to the plants , and it puts off less heat . The tube style is performing well for me and my setup .

DO NOT GET a 6" fan for and 8" reflector . It will flow , but not nearly as efficient . If your going to mismatch , go bigger on the fan . WHY you ask , because if you choke a larger fan , with smaller ducting , the fan will spin more freely making it a tad more efficient , yet ramming the MAX amount of air your duct will take .

Cool tubes are nice but nicer is not having to pull duct to change a bulb.

i have used both, imho cooltubes suck balls. infact i gave all 3 i had away for free, and the new owner doesnt rate them either.
i am now using sun master xxl hoods.
i have 2x600's and my yield using these is better than when i used 3x600 cooltubes,
also i tried both pushing and pulling air, pulling by far exceeded pushing, but make sure your lights are airtight, ie no leaks or you ll be pulling smelly air from your room,
my hoods are 6" my fans are 8", i opted for bigger so the fan wouldnt be working full pelt(noisy) but this is also on a fan speed controller.
but in my experience which is not that long, just 4 yrs,
any sort of glass will diminish yield. so only use if absolutely necessary