fishieness
Active Member
PS: in no way was this pic doctored, i was there to tell you it is real.
Mh Vs. T5
- Thread starter zanski
- Start date
fishieness
Active Member
Originally Posted by 04mach
I have a 40 breeder,and went from 150 hqi to the 8x39 t-5.
that is exactly what i want to do
what system do you have? How much was it? are you keeping sps or clams?
I have a 40 breeder,and went from 150 hqi to the 8x39 t-5.
that is exactly what i want to do
what system do you have? How much was it? are you keeping sps or clams?
zman1
Active Member
Originally Posted by fishieness
here is a pic. a guy in my reef club name Jens is from germany, and his friend claude runs an aquarium company over there. all amazing stuff. Well at our jan meeting, claude came all the way over to talk to us about german reefkeeping techniques and such...... i wont even tell you about some of the picstures he showed us, because you wouldnt believe me..... esspecialy that the tanks were 3-4 months old...... Anyways, he brought over a 4X54 watt t5 unit that his company makes (Fauna Marin). In the back of the room, there was a frag tank brought in by a LFS that was lit up by a 150 watt HQI coralife bulb and fixture. Sure, there are an extra 66 watts on the t5 ficture than the coralife.... but here is a pic. Every inch of the 48" unit of t5s (yes, i know the HQI was a lot higher, but i put my hand under it to try and compare how it dispered, and it still worked) was brighter than the centerpoint of the HQI.
lets see if the pic works
I would have been more convinced if you used 24" T5's and raise it off the tank to cover a 48" spread as the single MH is being measured against, since the normal spread/recommendation for MH is one for every 2' of tank width or use two MH and position them to cover 24" of tank space each.... What K are the comparison types?
Sure an all wheel drive Subaru would out perform a Humvee with only 2 tires mounted.
here is a pic. a guy in my reef club name Jens is from germany, and his friend claude runs an aquarium company over there. all amazing stuff. Well at our jan meeting, claude came all the way over to talk to us about german reefkeeping techniques and such...... i wont even tell you about some of the picstures he showed us, because you wouldnt believe me..... esspecialy that the tanks were 3-4 months old...... Anyways, he brought over a 4X54 watt t5 unit that his company makes (Fauna Marin). In the back of the room, there was a frag tank brought in by a LFS that was lit up by a 150 watt HQI coralife bulb and fixture. Sure, there are an extra 66 watts on the t5 ficture than the coralife.... but here is a pic. Every inch of the 48" unit of t5s (yes, i know the HQI was a lot higher, but i put my hand under it to try and compare how it dispered, and it still worked) was brighter than the centerpoint of the HQI.
lets see if the pic works
I would have been more convinced if you used 24" T5's and raise it off the tank to cover a 48" spread as the single MH is being measured against, since the normal spread/recommendation for MH is one for every 2' of tank width or use two MH and position them to cover 24" of tank space each.... What K are the comparison types?
Sure an all wheel drive Subaru would out perform a Humvee with only 2 tires mounted.
bang guy
Moderator
Originally Posted by 04mach
Before I made the switch I did some research on another forum that had over 50 pages of T-5 info. I belive they said the PAR was right there with MH.
Do a search for Sanjay Joshi Lighting.
If you read his articles the first this you notice is how much PAR varies from bulb to bulb, and even from ballast to ballast.
If you're going to compare T-5 PAR to MH PAR then the bulbs & ballasts used need be specified or nobody really gains any information. A flourescent kitchen light has more PAR per watt than many MH bulbs but the comparison is meaningless without details.
Before I made the switch I did some research on another forum that had over 50 pages of T-5 info. I belive they said the PAR was right there with MH.
Do a search for Sanjay Joshi Lighting.
If you read his articles the first this you notice is how much PAR varies from bulb to bulb, and even from ballast to ballast.
If you're going to compare T-5 PAR to MH PAR then the bulbs & ballasts used need be specified or nobody really gains any information. A flourescent kitchen light has more PAR per watt than many MH bulbs but the comparison is meaningless without details.
mbrennan
Member
I decided to make the swap to T5's ... found a shop that has american made T5 that had 4 bulb X 60" (80 watt) turnkey retro fit unit that will fit my canopy perfectly, providing 320 watts of light over a fish only tank. Including bulbs and Fedex shipping, less than $300. I anticipate that it will provide the light I need and reduce heat generation and electrical expense. Anyone interested in knowing how it goes ... keep in touch.
fishieness
Active Member
Originally Posted by mbrennan
I decided to make the swap to T5's ... found a shop that has american made T5 that had 4 bulb X 60" (80 watt) turnkey retro fit unit that will fit my canopy perfectly, providing 320 watts of light over a fish only tank. Including bulbs and Fedex shipping, less than $300. I anticipate that it will provide the light I need and reduce heat generation and electrical expense. Anyone interested in knowing how it goes ... keep in touch.
why would you spend 300 bucks for advanced lighting over a FO tank?!!!!
I decided to make the swap to T5's ... found a shop that has american made T5 that had 4 bulb X 60" (80 watt) turnkey retro fit unit that will fit my canopy perfectly, providing 320 watts of light over a fish only tank. Including bulbs and Fedex shipping, less than $300. I anticipate that it will provide the light I need and reduce heat generation and electrical expense. Anyone interested in knowing how it goes ... keep in touch.
why would you spend 300 bucks for advanced lighting over a FO tank?!!!!
fishieness
Active Member
Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
I would! It makes the tank look a lot better and make the fish look prettier under the better lighting. :happyfish
hmmm... i supose i could see that.... but i dont knwo if i would get t5 HO for the job. ohw ell, different strokes for different sized pocket books. lol
I would! It makes the tank look a lot better and make the fish look prettier under the better lighting. :happyfish
hmmm... i supose i could see that.... but i dont knwo if i would get t5 HO for the job. ohw ell, different strokes for different sized pocket books. lol
mikeyjer
Active Member
Originally Posted by fishieness
hmmm... i supose i could see that.... but i dont knwo if i would get t5 HO for the job. ohw ell, different strokes for different sized pocket books. lol
I don't know if I would use that to do the job either, was only letting you know I would use better lighting even for FO tanks.... :happyfish
hmmm... i supose i could see that.... but i dont knwo if i would get t5 HO for the job. ohw ell, different strokes for different sized pocket books. lol
I don't know if I would use that to do the job either, was only letting you know I would use better lighting even for FO tanks.... :happyfish
mbrennan
Member
I was given a 130 gallon tank and the lighting that came with it consists of 4 36" Coralife 50/50 bulbs and 4 24" Coralife 50/50 bulbs placed end to end to make up 60" in a 72" long canopy, (probably the way to go back in the early 80's). There is a large difference between the lighting at each end of the tank and each bulb runs between $17 to $32 a piece depending on where you get them ... that is 8 bulbs replaced every 6 months at around $180 to $200 every 6 months. There is also a difference in lighting color coming from each bulb. The bulbs run hot and the whole rig is junk in my opinion ... but what the heck, it was free. I found an already assembled T5 60" long 4 X 80 watt with two 10,000 and two blue that will fit my canopy perfectly ... I just have to mount it ... no wiring. In one fell swoop I eliminate nearly every problem I have and reduce the operating expences by over 40%. Now that makes a lot of sense to me, regardless of what I decide to keep.
P
phishface
Guest
Sounds like a good upgrade 2 me. I also have a big tank fish only and hate my crappy lights...3 24" 30 watt (15w blue/15w bright), They stink, but not sure of a few things, like mounting and cost.....doing research now. :happyfish
mbrennan
Member
I considered MH but don't want to deal with the heat issue. Right now my tank is at the upper limits of the temperature range. If I got MH I'd probably end up investing in a chiller to make things work.
By using T5's, which supposedly run cooler, I will also be going from a diameter of 1.5" to 5/8" bulbs, which gives me almost another inch above the surface of the water.
I have been told that though the T5's are 320 watts they generate 92.6 Lumens per Watt compared to my current bulb configuration of 200 watts at 55 Lumens per Watt. Thats 29,632 lumens for the T5 to 11,000 lumens for my current rig, almost three times the amount of light.
By using T5's, which supposedly run cooler, I will also be going from a diameter of 1.5" to 5/8" bulbs, which gives me almost another inch above the surface of the water.
I have been told that though the T5's are 320 watts they generate 92.6 Lumens per Watt compared to my current bulb configuration of 200 watts at 55 Lumens per Watt. Thats 29,632 lumens for the T5 to 11,000 lumens for my current rig, almost three times the amount of light.