T-5

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xxmoorishmanxx

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Aug 9, 2003
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I was reading this months AFM or TFM and they had an article about different types of lighting and they briefly mention T-5 lights does anyone know anything about them? Are they decent where would they fall in place Florcent at a low end PC in the middle and Metal Hallide at the top?
JC
 
My understanding is that they are more intense than VHO or PC, but not as intense as MH. I have never used them though...this is based on what I have read. I would think that they would equal VHO/PC anyway. Not much help I know :oops: .
 
mh are the proven top of the line imo t5's are the next best thing less money for bulbs and they last way longer elect costs are lower for running them and they are not as hot as mh but do not take that as they are not hot i still have to run a fan on my sump to keep the heat down with turbulence at the surface you can even get the glitter lines.some of the downsides are they are expensive to start you need to have individual reflectors for them to work at that level without individual reflectors they are just skinny floresents...then you need ballasts that will overdrive them and they are just starting to become popular in the states so the bulbs are pretty expensive and not all that easy to find i had to order mine off the net took 4 tries to get one of my bulbs here unbroken ups had 3 tries and then i asked reefgeek to ship usps and that one finally make it greg did tell me that i was 80 percent of his damage claims that it is the facility in my area...hth some
 
Compact....think the size of a DIME! 5/8 of an inch for the power is unbelievable what they put out for light.
mh are the proven top of the line imo t5's are the next best thing
Lori i would have to disagree! IMO a MH uses far more electricity for wattage comsumed...So make it far when you compare! If you take a 400watt MH you should take 400 watts for T5HO's should you? Or at least make the prices of the amount of bulbs equal...bang for the buck!
 
400W MH will produce several times more lumens than 400W of T-5 lighting and the PAR will be much higher as well.

MH uses far more electricity for wattage comsumed

I know this is nit picking (forgive me) but wattage is the elctricity consumed, which is just one reason why WPG sucks.

With the lighting choices available today, there really is no limit to what you keep in a shallow tank sans MH, but if you go much deeper than 24" and you want to keep SPS and clams...I would suggest you think MH. Pinpoint source of light will always penetrate further in the water that something spread across the entire tank.

Also, with some creative shopping and a little DIY...I do not think MH is that much more expensive than any of the other choices.
 
What gooyferret means and is right, is you can add 15 to 25 % more to the wattage consumption for the ballast on MH. This is true.. So in essence, 400 watt MH can consume technically 500 watts of electricity to run...Mind you this can. It is different with different ballasts.. I would imagine that an electronic ballast, which is more energy efficient prolly uses 10% more than the wattage of the bulb combined... so 440 watts instead of 400... The magnetic tar ballasts are very inefficient and would prolly produce the 500 for 400....

And so on and so on...

Oh yeah, P.S.
The same goes for any Flourescent out there as well...

This is why it is important to not skimp when it comes to buying a ballast..
 
garret-i know the lumens are great with the t-5s also know the lumens will max out the lux meter.not a lighting professional so just trying to put my experience into words for my use what i need the t-5s are perfect no chiller steady tank temp less elec consumed and i like the look of the tank but mh is the industry standard maybe not for everyone but how do you compare one type of apple with another some of it is going to end up being personal taste...i love my lighting choice would make the same choice again,and there are a lot of mh users that would say the same. t-5s need time in the us market....but will they become more popular than mh i do not know what they have much more potential to do is replace pc and vho imho.
 
Im thinking Im going to go with a T5 lighting system, what brand/model would you guys recommend? I am going to be using it in a 120 gal reef tank with soft corals, inverts etc.
Thanks,
Zero
 
Timbo thanks for understanding my point! Reefrunner for you to say that a 400 watt MH will put out more lumens is obserd. For example i have a 36" tank that runs 39watt T5HO's. Your stating that 10 T5HO 39watt bulbs cannot make more lumens than 1 400watt MH? Lumen output of T5HO is very different from a standard tube bulb. HO just like VHO's is determined on how many lumens are produced by wattage consumed. You have to remember that lumens are not measured from a 1 inch measurement but by total output of light from a bulb.
Reefrunner states:
Pinpoint source of light will always penetrate further in the water that something spread across the entire tank.
How is this true? Its true that pinpoint is stronger withing that "inch" of penetration. BUT you have to realize that MH is coming from a point and ending in a reflection of a ray. Every time light is reflected it is weakened, perhaps by water or a reflector for the lighting. Also the fact that MH's are designed to output light in all directions of the bulb including from the tip. Sorry to babble on but MH will never compared to 10 T5HO's for light output no matter how good of a reflector or anything you have not including the cost difference in eletricity. 10:1 ratio is not a good comparison but is a fair one. JMO
 
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