T5's

[FishFatty]

So what does everyone think...is it worth it to keep my 260 watt PC lights, or upgrade to the 324 watt T5 lighting? Also, what would I be able to keep under the t5's? The tank is 20" deep, and its a 75 gal. tank. Would I be able to keep clams? Thanks!

[ambaratur]

I would think it would be worth the upgrade.
If you have individual reflectors on them you should be able to keep virtually anything you want with that much light.

[Icehockey_whino]

That sounds pretty good for most anything. Quick question, How do the T5's do heat wise? Do they run significantly cooler?

[FishFatty]

I've heard that they are much cooler.

[goreefer]

I changed over to T5's about a month ago.
This is the thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=956305
I am very happy with the change.
The temp is much less than the PC's. As you know PC's run vert hot.

[kitestir9]

I have a 24" tek light fixture over my 56g tank that I started about a month ago. It is sitting on a glass top shimmed about 1" above it. I have a remote temp gun that reads the temp of the glass at 104 degrees after the light have been on for hours! It is not even really hot to the touch. My PC's ran much hotter then that!

HTH

Shawn

[RichConley]

Originally posted by FishFatty
So what does everyone think...is it worth it to keep my 260 watt PC lights, or upgrade to the 324 watt T5 lighting? Also, what would I be able to keep under the t5's? The tank is 20" deep, and its a 75 gal. tank. Would I be able to keep clams? Thanks!

Its more than 3 times the amount of light, so yeah, significant upgrade.

As to heat, the T5s will run like 20-30% hotter, becuase they use 20-30% more electricity.

[jbittner]

Longer bulb surface to remove the heat--also easier to get flow around the bulb than pc. You will need to have constant air moving over them to get the longevity (12-15 months). Also take you time acclimating your tank to the t5 (they are just as intense as MH)--I like the window screen method.

[jbittner]

RC--125x turnover rate--not realistic for most

[duec22]

Originally posted by jbittner
Longer bulb surface to remove the heat--also easier to get flow around the bulb than pc. You will need to have constant air moving over them to get the longevity (12-15 months). Also take you time acclimating your tank to the t5 (they are just as intense as MH)--I like the window screen method.

Yeah, the heat is much much easier to get rid of with T-5's due to how thin the bulbs are.
And a big ditto on the aclimation....From what I've noticed, most corals have a very hard time going from MH to T5 and vis versa. It's taken several months to get the colors to come out on some of my acros that I got from MH tanks...you know there just might be a market for high end corals grown under T5's because of this...

[jbittner]

I had no problems going from MH to t5-I actually had to acclimate up (more light in the t5). And i get better coloration from the t5.

[jbittner]

but less polyp extension

[vessxpress1]

I have a 36" Tek T-5 unit over my 38 gal. tank now. I upgraded from the dual 96 w PCs in August when one side went out. I acclimated with 4 stacked window screens, taking one off every couple days. After they were all off, things still seemed a little shocked to the full force of the light. The reflectors are awesome and they run a lot cooler.

Don't know if it had anything to do with it, but my BTA split a month later and colored up a lot. I'll see if I can find the pics....

[vessxpress1]

1 year of dual 96 w PCs:






1 month of 4 x 39w T-5s:



That was the day of the split.


Here they are today, 4 months later (bulbs haven't lost much):

[jaydub74]

Can anyone provide me with some manufacture links for T5 hoods. Rather then building one from scratch I would prefer a pre manufactured hood with T5 only.

Thanks

[lclzgarling]

nova at dr foster and smith

[lclzgarling]

but it only has one reflector dont know about individual reflectors

[superswimmer]

The power from the T-5s comes from the reflectors. You want each bulb in it's own reflector for maximum light output.

[vessxpress1]

Originally posted by jaydub74
Can anyone provide me with some manufacture links for T5 hoods. Rather then building one from scratch I would prefer a pre manufactured hood with T5 only.

Thanks

Check out the RC sponsors. I got my Tek light from Hellolights and ordered the bulbs from reefgeek.com. Both were good experiences.

[kitestir9]

check out seedsetc.com for tek fixtures. Go to the product link on the bottom of the main page. They have great prices on the fixture. Give a discount on the first set of bulb and offer free shipping. Received my setup in about 5-6 days from order date.

HTH
Shawn

[plancton]

nova aint that good, get tek.

I own t5s and they are way better than PC. I think I can pretty much keep sps, but my tank is packed.

I have a question though. I understand that individual reflectors make t5 much brighter, unfortunately I didn't buy a unit with individual reflectors, but it is 8X39WATT T5. and they are very close together, isn't that as bright as having individual reflectors?

[GSMguy]

would 6 36inch bulbs with individual reflectors be brighter than my 2x175watt halide

[plancton]

I would say about the same, no point to change.

[plyle02]

t5's are great for me, I have a 6x54 unit, not tek, next one will be, but have been really impressed with the response from the tank. I am keeping SPS, a 5" Crocea clam, and other LPS, Zoos, etc. I think you should be fine, and will be happy with the results.... my 2 cents.....