Question for T5 Users....

[Mare100]

Are there any of you out there who are using solely T5 lights, and now wish you went with Metal Halides?

Not wanting to start any kind of T5 vs. MH debate, as I've been reading many. Actually, I've been reading so much on lighting lately that my head is spinning.

We have a 120 gal. (4' x 2' x 2') reef...mostly soft corals for now, with a few LPS. We want to upgrade the lighting, but we are a little worried about getting into Metal Halides.....(cost to run, cost to replace bulbs, not wanting to buy a chiller).

We are also worried that T5's won't be enough light if we want to add some SPS and a clam in the future.

I know I'll probably get yelped at for this...but neither of us have the time to sit down and research PAR and Lumens and all that stuff. My old brain just can't take it.

Can you compare watts from T5 to watts from MH?

I'm sorry for being so stupid....but once I passed 40, my brain just became incapable of comprehending anything too technical.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks
M

[barjam]

I had T5s, went to MH primarily because of shimmer but I also wasn't satisfied with the coloration of the T5s (not in the corals, the lights themselves). I tried many different combos.

Watts are *roughly* equivalent in my opinion... depending on what K range you are looking at.

[Mare100]

OK...I see. The only thing I don't want is that "yellowish" tint that some tanks have. In fact...I am seeing it a bit in our 55 gal. right now and I hate it. As soon as we decide what to do with the 120 lights...we are going to switch those over to the 55.

Barjam....do you find yourself having to run a chiller and do the MH's affect your electric bill severely?

M

[barjam]

What lights are on your 55? Any light technology can produce yellow lighting it depends on what bulbs you are using. Also your water can be yellow... running carbon will clear this up. Yellow water with blue lights make them look more daylight/yellow, for example.

I do not run a chiller and I barely run the fans but my setup is in a room that is always 62-72 degrees (basement, in wall).

As far as electricity goes a watt is a watt... If lets say your lighting is 250 watts now just double what you are paying for 2x250 MH.

[shred5]

No I was all halides and went over to t-5 and I am very happy. My last tank was a 40 gallon breeder with a 250 s/e halide and 2 vho's and my new tank is a 30 and is the same depth and I had to cut back my photo period with the t-5's because I had some corals that were shrinking up or only open for part of the day. I was simply giving some of my corals to much light. Look at some of the tanks of the month that are all t-5 and they are bigger than a 120..

Dave

[Mare100]

We just have a Current Power Compact fixture on there right now. I think it's 65 watt dual daylight 10K/6400K and a 65 watt dual actinic. That tank is constantly in motion. Started as a Fish Only...then went to FOWLR and now we threw in a couple of soft corals to pretty it up a bit.

I never knew that the water itself could actually turn yellow. That's funny you mention it because when my husband did a water change the other night....the water didn't look as "yellow" as it had. We thought it was strange. He also put fresh carbon in there at that time.

Can the tank start to look yellow when the bulbs need to be replaced?

M

[Mare100]

Thanks Dave...

I will have to check out some past tanks of the month. Some of them are really beautiful. That's another concern with the halides....I was afraid that it might be too much light for some of the corals. And I don't want to have to supply the fish with little sunglasses. LOL.

M

[shred5]

Originally posted by Mare100
Thanks Dave...

I will have to check out some past tanks of the month. Some of them are really beautiful. That's another concern with the halides....I was afraid that it might be too much light for some of the corals. And I don't want to have to supply the fish with little sunglasses. LOL.

M

I had to cut back on the light with the t-5 not the halide. I had too much light with the t-5.... honestly I would say they are pretty equal. The difference is I save money because I have lots less watts with the t-5. You wont have that problem with too much light with a 120 since they are pretty deep. Going from the lighting you currently have now to either t-5 or halides you will either have to start with a shorter photoperiod and slowly increase it or raise the light higher and slowly lower it till the coral have time to adjust to the new light. 120 is a great size tank...

Also if you do go t-5 you need a quality fixture with indivdual reflectors.

Dave

[Mare100]

That was actually another question I had...how far above the surface should the T-5's be placed? I will have to read up on the "photoperiods". With our tank now, we just got up in the morning...turned the blue actinics on for about 1 hour..then turned all the lights on for the rest of the day...until around 10:00.

Are you familiar with the Sunlight Supply Tek Light Fixture? 8 x 54w. This is the fixture we are thinking of.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ct~SL2121.html

Thanks so much for all the help.

M

[shred5]

Originally posted by Mare100
That was actually another question I had...how far above the surface should the T-5's be placed? I will have to read up on the "photoperiods". With our tank now, we just got up in the morning...turned the blue actinics on for about 1 hour..then turned all the lights on for the rest of the day...until around 10:00.

Are you familiar with the Sunlight Supply Tek Light Fixture? 8 x 54w. This is the fixture we are thinking of.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ct~SL2121.html

Thanks so much for all the help.

M

Yes I have two of them. They are not bad. You might want to check out aquactinics too. They cool their bulbs so they are slightly better. They also have a solar flare fixture that really puts out allot of light, it uses ice cap ballast but it is not cheap. Tek is supposed to have a version coming out soon that cools the lamps but tek is still decent. If you have time to wait and see what the verdict is on the new nova extreme pro with individual reflectors it may be a good alternative. They recently added individual reflectors the the nova extreme and called it a pro. I am not sure it has 8 lamps and I would go with 8 because that is a wide tank.


Dave

[Mare100]

I looked at the Solar Flare fixture and really like it. I like the fact that it has the moonlight LED's too. I don't mind paying a little more for it if it is worth it in the long run. I'm going to pick your brain a little on this one. The Solar Flare fixture s available in a 6 bulb unit. However, the PDF document said that each 54w bulb runs at 85 watts. Does this mean that there will be a total output of 570 watts? If so...this is more than the 8 bulb Tek. Or am I totally confused about this...? LOL!

The Nova Pro only comes in 6 bulb also.

M

[luke33]

The tek with 8 bulb's work nicely especially for that tank size. I prefer t5's to mh's because for one i dont care for the shimmer i think its overated and i like the t5's because they cover more area, the mh's have more shade imo. If you are going to look at other fixture's look at reef geek's ati powermodule. They are the bet t5 fixture out there and look sharp.

[Mare100]

Ohhhhh man!! You shouldn't have told me about those ATI lights! That looks like an incredible setup! 10 x 54w......that's the one I like. Of course. Maybe if I cook the hubby an extra special dinner tonight....Hmmmm.... LOL!

M

[shred5]

Originally posted by Mare100
I looked at the Solar Flare fixture and really like it. I like the fact that it has the moonlight LED's too. I don't mind paying a little more for it if it is worth it in the long run. I'm going to pick your brain a little on this one. The Solar Flare fixture s available in a 6 bulb unit. However, the PDF document said that each 54w bulb runs at 85 watts. Does this mean that there will be a total output of 570 watts? If so...this is more than the 8 bulb Tek. Or am I totally confused about this...? LOL!

The Nova Pro only comes in 6 bulb also.

M

They over drive the lamps. But holy cow that is allot. With the solar flare you might be able to get away with 6 lamps but Grim reaper might be able to answer that better. Might want to ask the question in the t-5 question and answer thread. Grim reaper is the t-5 guru. Honestly I am not a huge fan of overdriving lamps. going with 8 lamps not overdriven may give you additional coverage.

From what i understand about the ati power module is they are having ballast issues right now. They may have worked them out now I do not know that is why I did not suggest it. last I heard they were working on it, might want to check with reef geek to see if it is fixed. The ati is an aswum fixture if they fixed the issue and reefgeek is a great company too.

Dave

[Mare100]

I'll have to go over and finish reading the T5 Q & A thread. If nobody has brought this up...I'll post the question and see what Grim has to say. I know zilch about anything electric, but "overdriving" the lights sounds like the bulbs might burn out quicker?

I will check into the ballast issue on those ATI fixtures....although I seriously doubt I could sell hubby on the price....especially since we just got our heating oil tanks filled and we'll probably have to remortgage the hosue to pay the bill! Sheeeesh.

M