T-5 lighting

I'm going to have a canopy built once I know the lights to use. I don't want to limit myself on the corals. I plan on having a large variety.

 

Here is a quote from that 'Tank of the Month' article...

After using T5 bulbs for over two years, and almost nine months in my current tank, I must say that I am very pleased with the results in terms of coral growth and color. Aside from quality T5 tubes, equally important are the mirror finish ATI parabolic reflectors that rest directly on the tubes for maximum reflectivity. One of the keys to getting good results with T5 bulbs, I believe, is to keep your SPS no more than 18" from the light source. For intensely colored SPS (i.e. reds, blues, pinks, neon yellows), I keep them less than 10" away. The T5 bulbs are no more than three inches from the water surface.

Make sure you situate things properly to get similar results...that tank is beautiful!

With MH, yes you do get a point of light that is brighter....with 72 inches to work with tho, there will be overlap. 3 250W would be very nice IMO, supplement with actinic T-5's or VHO's

Also, to say they produce nearly twice the PAR value as MH, is not really fair. Are you comparing equal wattage? Equal Kelvin temps? A 6500 K 250W MH produces about twice the PAR as a 10K 250W MH....so what are the comparisons there?

I am not dissing the T-5's....I am curious as to how they will pan out over time. Just bringing up points for consideration ;D

 

"I am curious as to how they will pan out over time." Me too I am just on the other side of the fence. I am also a realist and am curious the cut-off point to were it still makes sense to base your lighting around T-5 or to switch to MH. I don't see a clear cut off but generalizing. I think from my experience it makes more sense to setup small to medium size tank with T-5HO. Say up to 18" deep. In deeper tanks large tanks I still think it makes sense to base your lighting around MH. At some point all the bulbs, reflectors, and end caps add up in a large tank and make MH more appealing.

Interestingly though that guy's TOTM setup is using normal High Output T-5s, not a overdriven IceCap setup. The setup that the Salt Creep suggested and that I own. Since penetrating power( ie keeping Acros happy at depth) has as more to do with intensity of the light in any giving space it will be interesting to see what overdriven T-5HOs can do.

This is a can of worms but I hope this helps.

 

Nope, no can of worms...I am open to all things! ;D

I am sure there is a price point at which financially it is cheaper to go MH on the larger tanks.

The T-5's are more evenly distributed as far as light goes..(I do supplement with VHO's that span the length of my tank as well)

I sortof like the pinpoint of light not only for the rippling effect but I enjoy a few sps and largely lps, so I just place them where they will be happy and I have several areas of differing light to offer.

 

Nope, no can of worms...I am open to all things!

I am sure there is a price point at which financially it is cheaper to go MH on the larger tanks.

The T-5's are more evenly distributed as far as light goes..(I do supplement with VHO's that span the length of my tank as well)

I sortof like the pinpoint of light not only for the rippling effect but I enjoy a few sps and largely lps, so I just place them where they will be happy and I have several areas of differing light to offer.

 

I have 3 150 watt BLV 10K halides on magnetic ballasts. The BLV has the highest PAR output of any 10K 150 watt halides Sanjay Joshi has measured. The system also has 168 watts of PC actinics. The T5's were 3 11K lamps and 3 Bluepluses (claimed to be a 20K lamp, most say it look similar to a radium halide;s color) when measured. I measured the PAR in the same area of the tank which was directly under a halide lamp. I got even a little more PAR once I swapped 1 11K lamp for a GE 6500 which actually makes the tank look better in my opinion, too blue before. The T5's were running on Ice Cap ballasts which should be running them about 100 watts a peice. Quite frankly the T5's gave me much better color than the halides do which is why I am upgrading the fixture to 250 watts so I can run 14K lamps.

The shorter the T5's are the higher they are overdriven. The 24 watt lamps are supposed to run at better than 50 watts. I would be willing to bet a 4x24 Ice Cap T5 system would best a lot of 250 watt halides for PAR at any depth. If I didn't already have a house full of equipment I've gotten to satisfy my curiosity I'd grab some 24 watt T5's and prove it. I have WAY too much free time on my hands

 

I don't doubt you at all! So with the MH system (including the PC's) it was about 618 watts and with the T-5's it was about 600 watts..very close indeed. You do get more PAR the more you head into the yellow spectrum. I would be curious as to what PAR value you would get with 3 6500K MH's!
Someone just posted this recently

http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/

A side by side comparison of 250 watt MH bulbs with color and PAR values - I found it fun as well as interesting. I am just sortof getting my feet wet with this lighting stuff...it gets quite invovled, and by far I am no expert! Just asking the questions....

Could you link me to Sanjay Joshi's review? I have heard mixed reviews about his testing methods (eg. did not use lenses over the DE HQI's which is unrealistic, you should use a lens with those, etc) and I would like to read it again for myself, but seem to have lost the link ;D

 

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

You can compare different lamps on different ballasts and all kinds of fun stuff, that is in the compare 2 lamps tab. There are some great articles there too. Sanjay is a God when it comes to lighting, Lab quality tests, computer graphics and everything. I am just a guy with a PAR meter who gets his arms wet.

You will see a couple of terms that are explained in some of the articles called PPFD and CCT. I'll do you a BIG favor and explain it to you so you don't have to spend a friggin hour trying to find where they were explained in articals. PPFD is the PAR reading. CCT is corrected color tempature, the actual color of the lamp's light. Have fun.

 

Thank you! Guess I am going to have to put down my Harry Potter book and read that now! LOL!

 

That is quite a body of work! YIKES! I have a 175 W MH.....what is the point! Par values can be nearly double to triple with a 250! (was planning on that upgrade anyway!)