Hagen T5 HO GLO Lighting Systems

your loosing alot of the bennefits of t5 ho lighting if you don't have individual reflectors for each bulb.2 bulbs for one reflector would be more like a power compact bulb.it would mean more light reflecting back off the reflector back onto the bulbs therefor heating the bulbs more reducing bulb life and blocking the amount of light reflecting back into the tank.t5's are great cause of how thin they are.more light is able to reflect into the tank from the reflector and less hits the bulb so it runs cooler.if your using one reflector for the whole fixture you may as well use the old fasioned phlorescent bulbs or power compacts.a 4 x 54 watt t5 ho fixture with individual reflectors for each bulb is equal to 400 watts of metal halide in a shallow tank around 18-20inches deep.

 

Interesting point about the reflector ZG. Boy you sure sound like Ziggy.. how do people tell you apart? ;D

 

LOL this is ziggy.i'm at my girl friends house and it automatically logs me in as her here.i don't bother relogging in as me

 

Likely story.

 

I am sorry I have to disagree with the hole reflector subject. My extreme nova has a single reflector and I kept alot of various corals which were constantly growing and very happy, including a crocea clam which was on the bottom level of the tank. T5ho with one reflector would not lower it to pc levels. I had pc's before the t5ho's and no way did my corals grow or show polyps and colour like they do with the t5ho.

 

Hi,
While it is true that light reflected back into the bulb is lost, generates more heat and shortens bulb life. I am not sure about that claim 4) 54” T5 equaling one 400 watt metal halide.
Lumens per watt and number of watts are important and a good indicator of the amount of light you can expect. We are not discussing PAR or PUR here. Let’s go back to the reflector, if the reflector is efficient and the light properly directed the lumen efficiency of the metal halide bulb is difficult to top that is in fact why people use them. Metal halide has tremendous bang for the buck or lumen per watt output.
Case in point I / we just illuminated a (15) foot diameter by (4) foot deep shark tank for The Fish Store in Fort Pierce Florida the owners were astounded by the look of the tank . Why? I used only one bulb to beautifully light the entire tank. Yes one (600) watt metal halide hung in a cheap mirror finish reflector. The bulb hangs about 3-4 feet over the center of the tank. They are not trying to grow coral, what they want is an attention getting shark tank.
My point is that they were trying to do the same job with T5 bulbs they would have been up to their ears in bulbs. Given the area of the tank they had figured out that they needed more bulbs than they could afford.

 

Individual reflectors reflect more light back onto the bulb then one big reflector for multiple bulbs. Thats common sense. One bulb half covered by a reflector will reflect all the light coming off the top of it and sides back on to it. If you use common sense, thats more reflectivity per bulb back on itself. The purpose of individual reflectors is to spread the light out over a broader area. 1 individual reflector covers 6" of area front to back, where as a single reflector for multiple bulbs would only cover about 15"s front to back total for a 4 bulb unit with more intensity over the intial 10" from center being super intense which is optimal for SPS growth. I use a 4x54w on a 75g and I can honestly say its to much light for the top 1/3 of the tank, even for SPS, in the intial 10"s of the light. I have bleached numerous Acro's as a result. Buy/borrow a lux meter if you dont believe me.

If individual reflectors are suppose ot be better then a single multiple reflector, then why does it cut the life of a bulb by 1/4?


Just because you read something somewhere, doesnt make it the truth or the only way of doing things. Be an individual thinker and use common sense.

 

Wow now that is advice, I love that last bit about thinking for yourself. This is after all a hobby that grows in knowledge and ability year after year.
No new knowledge would be available if everyone took as gospel everything they heard.
I could not agree more with the buy a meter advice.
Happy Holidays everyone.

 

I love my t5 glo, I only have a 30g reef and I am thinking of adding one more 24"