Need the experts here on lighting

[speeddemonlsr]

Okay I really doing my research on lighting here is my confusion.

I have a 75 gallon standard aquarium I want to add corals to the tank, I have a contact at ****** and they say just to run vho's(doesnt maked sense)!!!. I plan on having hammer coral, torch, zoos, lps, softies, shrooms. ect. some of the easy stuff. I dont want mh so that out of the question so its between t-5 and vho. vho have alot of output but need to be repaced every 6-8 mts, maint. is very expensive,5s are nice but a little more expensive??? If I get vho I will have a total of 440 watts. 5.6 watts per gallon. (good). Every one says now its not the wattage its the output, t-5's put out more light. So how many t-5's would I need? How many watts. Please help I have done research but get conflicting answers. ex. (I put 6 54 watt t-5 on my tank and my lps suffered so did my zoo's that was too much light)??? Thanks for any help.

 

[scsinet]

Watt-for-Watt, T5s put out a bit more (not all that much more, but definitely more) light than VHO. For example, a 48" VHO lamp is 110w. A 48" T5 lamp is 54w, so imagine two of them. (2) 54w T5 HO lamps will give you a bit more light than (1) 48" VHO.
T5's have the added advantage of being smaller, and when used with indivudual reflectors, allows a more efficient directing of light down into the tank, which will result in a dramatic gain in efficiency and usable light per watt over VHO.
So, to use your 440w (4x110w) VHO example, if you came as close as you could with T5, you'd be using 432w (8x54w) T5 HO. With indivudal reflectors, you are going to get a LOT more light out of that system.
Given what you are trying to keep, I'd wager than a (4) lamp 54w T5 fixture loaded with 10-14K lamps and using individual reflectors would suit your needs. If however you want actinics, you'll want to go with an (8) lamp, 54w T5 fixture with individual reflectors, and load it with (6) 10-14K lamps and (2) Actinic 03 lamps.
If you don't already know, Actinics cause the corals to fluoresce, and effect many people like, but don't benefit the corals that much, so I generally don't count actinic wattage when I figure the power of a lighting system over a tank. Therefore, if you have a (4x54w) fixture, and you run (1) actinic lamp, then figure that you have (3) lamps of usable light. That's why I suggested uppping the lamp count if you run actinic.
With the 4 lamp fixture as described (with no actinics), you'll be able to keep what you want.
With the 8 lamp fixture as described (with 6 regular and 2 actinics), you should be able to keep anemones and non-demanding clams too if you wanted.
Whew! I hope that clears things up for you a bit.
BTW, don't bother with VHO. It's yesterday's technology, and the cost of owership is much higher due to more frequent lamp changes.

 

[speeddemonlsr]

t-5's here we go thanks.

 

[c42480]

I have a t5 setup for my 75 gallon. I went with 4 t5 bulbs and a icecap 660 ballist with reflectors. this overdrives the 54w bulbs to about 85w. It will shorten the bulb life to around 12-14 months of use i was told, but it is a more compact fixture and its about 340w. I would check them out also.
Chuck

 

[speeddemonlsr]

Originally Posted by c42480
I have a t5 setup for my 75 gallon. I went with 4 t5 bulbs and a icecap 660 ballist with reflectors. this overdrives the 54w bulbs to about 85w. It will shorten the bulb life to around 12-14 months of use i was told, but it is a more compact fixture and its about 340w. I would check them out also.
Chuck
What kind of bulbs are you running any pics of your tank would be appreciated!
Thank you

 

[c42480]

i do not have good luck posting pictures but if you pm me your email i can send yo as many as you want. or if some one lets me know a good way to poat i can do that,

 

[thangbom]

maybe too late but 6 bulb is the max of t5ho you will need for that tank.. t5ho are stronger then you think... imo the best bang for the buck... if you and lps,zoos and shroom is all that you want then id go with a 4 bulb set with SLR... no need to overdrive... ( i think a 4 bulb 4'' t5ho overdriven is almost = to 250 MH ) i grow lps on my sandbed in a 24'' tall tank with 6 bulbs normaly driven t5ho just fine....
YzGyz