T5's

[prow]

36" you have to go with the 39watters, so for sps i would go with a 6 bulb unit overdrive them and keep light demanding sps mid to high on the rock work. but for lps and softies the 4 bulb unit will be fine. i am not totally sure because i have never had actual experiance with the 39watters, only the 80 and 54's.

[Kerchakone]

How do you guys overdrive the bulbs? Are you making your own setups? What exactly is involved? I was wanting T5 to go over my new tank and they are expensive and LOW wattage. I need something custom I guess. It seems like it's either custom T5 or MH for my only choices.

[prow]

all you do to overdrive them is use a icecap ballast, thats it. many T5 setup come with your choice of ballast icecap or other.

[michael_cb_125]

I have two 250 watt HQI MH and 7 54 watt T5 bulbs over my SPS/LPS tank. The T5 bulbs really make a diffrence. With just the MH I get pin pointed light, when I turn on the T5s my tank is very evenly lit. I really like the T5 fixtures.

[Rcpilot]

I'm currently using 130w PC lighting on my 30g high reef. The tank is 24" long x 24" tall x 12" deep-front too back.

I have the Coralife double PC unit with a single 65w actenic and a single 65w daylight 10K. It's okay, but definitely not enough to get serious with this tank.

I currently only have some mushrooms, one polyp and a couple zoa colonies. I want to add SPS, anenomes, LPS etc.

I've been looking at this 120w T5 unit from Premium Aquatics.
TX5 Series Aquactinics 24" 5 lamp T5 fixture - no lamps: Premium Aquatics

Keep in mind, thats 24" long and will take 5 bulbs--24w each.

Can I still keep my zoas and my mushrooms that really don't like super bright lights under this fixture? Maybe just shade them?

Will this fixture give me the light that is required for the SPS and LPS?

Thanks

[DrHank]

I agree with prow on the 120. I think a 4 bulb set up would be fine for the 55. A 6 bulb system might be overkill on an 18" deep tank

[DrHank]

I've been looking at this 120w T5 unit from Premium Aquatics.
TX5 Series Aquactinics 24" 5 lamp T5 fixture - no lamps: Premium Aquatics

That is one of my favorite fixtures. Should work great.

[Kerchakone]

Are these any good? I have a 36" wide 20" deep 46 gallon. I was looking at the 6x39watt. I don't think they have individual reflectors so I was going to go 6 bulb. Would that work for a crocea you think?

Aqua Medic Ocean Light T5 Fixtures - Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists

[prow]

get a fixture with individual reflectors. that aqua medic does not have them. the one drhank linked will work. i like the sunlinght supply fixtures. here is a link to one. call and ask greg if you can get it with new tek 2 reflectors. http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...unlight_Supply for sure get a fixture with individual reflectors, you can always take a reflector off if the light is too much. its much harder to add reflectors.

[cheeks69]

I have seen tanks with T5's and HQI's side by side and there's really no comparison AFA intensity goes and all the tests done at RC show that T5's give ya nowhere near the amount of PAR that MH bulbs will give ya. Now it's true you'll get better coverage with T5's if not using a good reflector but even that will change if you use a LumenArc reflector with your MH's.

Now in shallower tanks T5's can work very well but if you want to keep light demanding Acro's and Tridacnads such as Croceas/Maximas you'll need to place as many bulbs as possible. If you can fit 6 54 w bulbs that's the way I would go.

[prow]

humm, have you read throught he T5 Q&A thread on RC. many many many tests done on that thread. my own test show 80wT5's and 250w mh(watt for watt)where very close at 18" under the water line. i have clams and acro's under 3 80watt T5's doing great. dont forget the watts on the T5 bulbs. 39watt bulbs and 80watt bulbs are not the same light. if you compare a 250watt MH and 3x80watt T5 they both do great. now take the 250w MH and compare to 5x54w T5's, the T5's might not be as close. but if you take a 150w MH and compare to 2x80w T5's the T5's out do the MH. just something to consider. everyone keeps lumping the T5's as if the bulb wattage means nothing. example, the thinking that 6x39w bulbs is the same as or more than 4x54w bulbs, this is not so. the 4x54w bulbs will provide much more PAR at deeper depths than the 6x39w bulbs even though less watts are used. watt for watt T5's and MH is about the same.

[cheeks69]

Originally Posted by prow

humm, have you read throught he T5 Q&A thread on RC. many many many tests done on that thread. my own test show 80wT5's and 250w mh(watt for watt)where very close at 18" under the water line. i have clams and acro's under 3 80watt T5's doing great.

Prow I know many people who are successful using T5's and some of them have tanks loaded with SPS and Tridacnads BUT the tanks are relatively shallow AND they're using a ton of bulbs so the cost in the long run could be considerably higher especially if your replacing these bulbs every 6 months due to the fact these bulbs are being overdriven, this shortens their lifespan.

Have you checked this thread at RC ?


Reef Central Online Community - T5 lamp PAR readings

[prow]

yup, read through that one. shows good results but only compares T5 bulbs with other T5 bulbs. in the Q&A thread there are some test comparing T5 and MH. i change my overdriven bulbs once a year. but your right after all is said and done they are about the same price. for me though the price of buying and running a chiller had to be factored in. in some areas this is not a concern and MH would be a better choice, there is no dout good and bad with each. just depends on your system and its needs.

[Rcpilot]

I am amazed that people are only using 216w on a 75g. That's about 2.3w per gallon.

I just bought this 6 bulb unit. It's 24" long, so it uses the 24w bulbs. That gives me 144w -- or about 4.8w per gallon.

Am I going to burn my zoas, polyps and mushrooms with this unit? It sure sounds like it, if I'm reading you correctly. I plan to get some SPS and LPS soon. I'm pretty loaded with zoas and mushrooms right now.

It's a 30g tank and measures 24" deep.

Catalina Aquarium

I thought I was doing good. Now I'm worried that I bought too much light.

[cheeks69]

I just bought this 6 bulb unit. It's 24" long, so it uses the 24w bulbs. That gives me 144w -- or about 4.8w per gallon.

Am I going to burn my zoas, polyps and mushrooms with this unit?

I wouldn't consider 4.8 wpg to be very intense and as long as you acclimate properly your Zoanthids and Mushrooms will be fine, the zoa's may even improve in color.