Question on tank lighting

xtreeme

Member
T5 is more efficient then T5 ho. Not much but it is. THe HO just less lights used. 2 T5 is more efficient then 1 T5 HO or 4 T5 are better then 2 T5 HO.
If your buying lights look at the bulbs.
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpi.../lat5/pc1a.asp
Stats on T5 T8 and T12.
T8s arent bad either.
If you want less bulbs T5 HO.
type..watts..inital lumens.....lumens at 40% bulb life....Lumen per watt
T5.....35W...3,650...............3,431...............................104
T8.....32W..2,950................2,800...............................92
T5 HO.39W..3,500...............3,290...............................90
T12....40w..3,400...............3,090................................85
T5 is most efficient. T8 second. T5 HO 3rd and T12 last.
T5 14W 22" 1,350 lumen
T5 HO 24W 22" 2000 lumen
So 2xT5 is 28watts and 2,700 lumens. 4xT5 would be 56watts and 5,400 lumens.
2xT5 HO 48watts and 4,000 lumens. 4xT5 HO would be 96watts and 8,000 lumens.
If you can fit more bulbs T5 or T8 is efficient.
anemone most want lots of lumen I would use MH.
 

ibew41

Active Member
Originally Posted by xtreeme
http:///forum/post/2690704
T5 is more efficient then T5 ho. Not much but it is. THe HO just less lights used. 2 T5 is more efficient then 1 T5 HO or 4 T5 are better then 2 T5 HO.
If your buying lights look at the bulbs.
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpi.../lat5/pc1a.asp
Stats on T5 T8 and T12.
T8s arent bad either.
If you want less bulbs T5 HO.
type..watts..inital lumens.....lumens at 40% bulb life....Lumen per watt
T5.....35W...3,650...............3,431...............................104
T8.....32W..2,950................2,800...............................92
T5 HO.39W..3,500...............3,290...............................90
T12....40w..3,400...............3,090................................85
T5 is most efficient. T8 second. T5 HO 3rd and T12 last.
T5 14W 22" 1,350 lumen
T5 HO 24W 22" 2000 lumen
So 2xT5 is 28watts and 2,700 lumens. 4xT5 would be 56watts and 5,400 lumens.
2xT5 HO 48watts and 4,000 lumens. 4xT5 HO would be 96watts and 8,000 lumens.
If you can fit more bulbs T5 or T8 is efficient.
anemone most want lots of lumen I would use MH.
lumen is ok but what par at 18" of water? On -- a nova pro had more par at lower tank depths than most 175w MH.T5 might have more efficiency than a T5 ho but I would not keep clams or anemone with them,but I do with T5 HO
 

xtreeme

Member
T5 is same thing as T5 HO just more efficient. Ho is for more light in one bulb. The par should be similar. I did find Nova24" 4xT5 24w HO 2 lunar for $180 that is around 8000 lumen. 275 lumen per gal. is that enough.
Im no expert just have to get lights for new tank soon 120g (going to use T5 HO) and shared the info. He doesnt have much room, I didnt know about they made 4xT5 HO for that hood.
 

mr_x

Active Member
all of those lamps are 3000-6500 kelvin lamps. i wonder if it makes a difference?
 

xtreeme

Member
They are house lighting spectrum. It shows the diff in style of light and lumen per watt not the spectrum.
Oh I didnt understand you mean if it makes a diff in the lumen per watt. Have to find some on 10 or 14k. I think it will be same that T5 most efficient and T5 HO best for more lumens.
 

wattsupdoc

Active Member
First of all, lumen's have nothing to do with a corals needs. Comparing lumen's on lamps to get what you need for your corals is like looking at a cows butt and trying to decide what the steaks gonna taste like. Forget it. It ain't doing anybody any good doing this. You cannot look at a light and say that the PAR should be similar.....no way....NOT....Even what for what of the same type of lighting. NO WAY. This is like saying that all 250 watt MH bulbs have the same similar PAR.
The fact is it's radiation they are after, Photosynthetically available radiation.......I believe the actual term is.....
Second. Where did that data come from? It doesn't look right. And are you comparing apples to apples? Or do you even know what to compare in order to get apples to apples? The 32 watt lamps listed as 2950 lumens are 3000k, 3500, and 41000k.No good for reefs. The T8 you posted is a 4 foot bulb, the T5 a 5 foot lamp, the T5HO a 3 foot lamp..... The T5 bulb you posted is a High Effeciency bulb, the HO is a high output.
But all this is for null because we dont even care about lumens.
 

xtreeme

Member
First of all (lol)
lumens is the measurement of light intensity. If the coral doesnt need lumens (rating for brightness) like you said then why worry about how bright the light is in the spectrum they want at all? Par is what coral wants yes, its the lumens in the spectrum of what the coral needs. However each coral type by where its from wants diff spectrum par tries to cover all from my understanding....regardless I know what par is. I know about phosphers also.
The point I was making was lumens per watt NOT bulb size. Efficiency. It was rated by type. Where I get the data? Try the link once. Feel free to find info on par and lumens of PAR per each light type. Conrtibute some information to the thread instead of just slaming what others are trying to look up.....Ill wait for the T5 T5HO T8 and T12 par and lumen ratings for the more commen aquarium bulbs. Id like to see the specs.
If you want to be picky each bulb brand of same type even will have diff par and lumen. MH vary alot I know this from studies I did over 5 years ago with them and projection.
But all this is for null because we dont even care about lumens.
again that makes NO sense at all really. You dont care how bright the light is, even the spectrum the coral wants. I care about lumens and the ones in the par range most. No one said the color didnt matter or the par. I was considering efficiency, ya know how much light you get for how much watts.
 

xtreeme

Member
First of all, lumen's have nothing to do with a corals needs.
Really, think about it for a second. Since lumens is the measurement of light intesity Id think it matters. PAR is a spectrum and is measured in..........wavelength (spectrum) and.......lumens (brightness). A good par bulb at 100 lumens is no good. 4000 lumens of par is nice but if you dont care how bright the light is in a spectrum ok....I do.
Comparing lumen's on lamps to get what you need for your corals is like looking at a cows butt and trying to decide what the steaks gonna taste like. Forget it. It ain't doing anybody any good doing this.
Lumens in the PAR range matter.
You cannot look at a light and say that the PAR should be similar.....no way....NOT....Even what for what of the same type of lighting. NO WAY.
I agree. Feel free to find the lumens of the bulbs in the 10k or 14k spectrum and find the par too. While looking see if you can find how many lumens and par for how deep. Light loss is diff for each type and brand even heh.
This is like saying that all 250 watt MH bulbs have the same similar PAR.
apples and oranges.......MH is touchy not tuned well as flourscent and led to a spectrum it has to do with phospher.
The fact is it's radiation they are after, Photosynthetically available radiation.......I believe the actual term is.....
ALL LIGHT IS RADIATION. They want radiation of light in a specific spectrum or spectrums which they call PAR which is the range corals like. Par is range of light spectrum. Spectrum is wavelength of energy radiated in the for of light. IR is low spectrum, and since it moves fast it excites the molecules on surface and makes heat. This is why a red bulb will make a object warm. UV is the high end.
I know a tiny bit about lights, no pro but I know some from my DIY MH projector days.
 

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Enough to give out poor information apparently.
I wont nit pic you, Some of what you say is right but you don't have a complete grasp on it. But I will say, PAR and Lumens are two different, connected things. There is no Lumen's in the PAR spectrum. Lumens is the measure of visible light/ PAR is the measure of radiation in that light. Different spectrum's of light have different levels of radiation. I think the jury is still out on exactly what light is, just like it's still out on what electricity actually is....All theories, no laws yet.
The info you posted leads others to believe that a T8 lamp will do the job of a t5HO AND some. This is just untrue, misleading and will cause others to wastefully spend money as well as cost some corals their life. I am only posting to prevent that. So post away,,,,,,I'm done here.
 

xtreeme

Member
lol, your not nit picking (yes you are but anyway). Im not here to fight so be less hostile if you could.
First lumens
"Lumens, also called Luminous Intensity, represents the total amount of photons emitted by a light source at any given time. Lumens is not the same as brightness, which is the maximum concentration of photons on a given location."
So your saying the PAR RANGE of spectrum can not be measured by the amount of photons givin at any time? I think it does have a measurable amount of photons emited in the par range and that it can be measured. How do you measure par if not? That is a question.
You are thinking of BRIGHTNESS which is the maximum concentration of photons on a given area.
PAR is radiated energy like all light that includes visible light and not visible. You may not be able to see it, still can be measured.
PAR
"Electromagnetic radiation in the part of the spectrum used by plants for photosynthesis"
You seem to read and miscomprehend what I wrote. I NEVER SAID PAR WAS LUMENS> I said Par is a part of light spectrum, and light is measured. One way to measure light is lumens.
This IS able to be measured. If not in lux or lumen then what?
The info you posted leads others to believe that a T8 lamp will do the job of a t5HO AND some
wrong, never said that. I said that T8 is more efficient then T5 HO. A T5 HO has more watts and thus more lumens in a bulb but has less lumens per watt then T8. A T5HO is just a high watt bulb of the T5 type. A T8 CAN do what a T5HO does, it will take more bulbs to do it thus more room. T5HO is all about more watts in one bulb for more lumens in one bulb. SO you dont need 6 or 8 T8 but 4 T5HO. If you have FACTS that say otherwise share it.
So post away,,,,,,I'm done here.
figures you just jumped in to slam someones post with no facts to back up distort what I say then say your done so you dont have to support your claim or answer about how you twisted what I posted.
http://www.hydro.co.nz/1_information...nfo_light.html
"Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is measured with a quantum sensor in units of umol/m2/sec relating to light in the 400 to 700 nanometer wavelength.
Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is measured with a quantum sensor in units of umol/m2/sec relating to light in the 400 to 700 nanometer wavelength.
Photometry is measured with a light meter in units of lumens or lux relating to light in the visible 380 to 770 nanometer wavelength."
They use a diff measurement for PAR since each wavelength is diff HOWEVER you could convert it to lumen (so you could relate to the intensity if could be seen). He says it can be done but could be misleading so it is left in the reg measurement system for that type of wavelength. So PAR is measureable its also in the visible spectrum of light going by this info. If you knew all about par and lumens why didnt you say this???? LOL. Maybe you too could learn something about PAR and lights.
Oh well I give up. I assumed we could have a intelligent discusion about lights, efficiency and spectrum.......but it turned into a flame war. Sorry
 

xtreeme

Member
Oh well I give up.
I assumed we could have a intelligent discusion about lights, efficiency and spectrum.......but it turned into a flame war.
Sorry
 

wattsupdoc

Active Member
First lumens
"Lumens, also called Luminous Intensity, represents the total amount of photons emitted by a light source at any given time. Lumens is not the same as brightness, which is the maximum concentration of photons on a given location."
From wikipedia....Note I post my source?
The lumen (symbol: lm) is the SI unit of luminous flux, a measure of the perceived power of light. Luminous flux differs from radiant flux, the measure of the total power of light emitted, in that luminous flux is adjusted to reflect the varying sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths of light. The lumen is defined in relation to the candela by
1 lm = 1 cd·sr = 1 lx·m2
That is, a light source that uniformly radiates one candela in all directions radiates a total of 4π lumens. If the source were partially covered by an ideal absorbing hemisphere, that system would radiate half as much luminous flux—only 2π lumens. The luminous intensity would still be one candela in those directions that are not obscured.
So your saying the PAR RANGE of spectrum can not be measured by the amount of photons givin at any time? I think it does have a measurable amount of photons emited in the par range and that it can be measured. How do you measure par if not? That is a question.
Photosynthetically active radiation
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The expression Photosynthetically Active Radiation, often abbreviated PAR, designates the spectral range of solar light from 400 to 700 nanometers that is useful to terrestrial plants in the process of photosynthesis. This spectral region corresponds more or less with the range of light visible to the human eye. Photons at shorter wavelengths tend to be so energetic that they can be damaging to cells and tissues; fortunately they are mostly filtered out by the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Photons at longer wavelengths do not carry enough energy to allow photosynthesis to take place, and plants have developed, through billions of years of evolution, the capacity to scatter these photons away, hence the very high reflectance and transmittance of live green leaves.
Other living organisms, such as green bacteria, purple bacteria and Heliobacteria, can exploit solar light in slightly extended spectral regions, such as the near-infrared. These bacteria live in environments such as the bottom of stagnant ponds, sediment and ocean depths. Because of their pigments, they form colorful mats of green, red and purple. These organisms must make use of the leftovers discarded by the plant kingdom, in this case, light outside the PAR range.
Typical PAR action spectrum, shown beside absorption spectra for chlorophyll-A, chlorophyll-B, and carotenoidsChlorophyll, the most abundant plant pigment, is most efficient in capturing red and blue light. Horticulturists say that blue light is the most important for leaf growth and that red light encourages flowering. Accessory pigments such as carotenes and xanthophylls harvest some green light and pass it on to the photosynthetic process, but enough of the green is reflected to give leaves their characteristic color. An exception to the predominance of chlorophyll is autumn, when chlorophyll decays earlier than the accessory pigments that remain to color the leaves red, yellow and orange.
PAR measurement is used in agriculture, forestry and oceanography. One of the requirements for productive farmland is adequate PAR, so PAR is used to evaluate agricultural investment potential. PAR sensors stationed at various levels of the forest canopy measure the pattern of PAR availability and utilization. PAR measurements are also used to calculate the euphotic depth in the ocean
Dang it ..gonna take 2 posts.
 

wattsupdoc

Active Member
You are thinking of BRIGHTNESS which is the maximum concentration of photons on a given area.
No....I was reffering to lumens....
PAR is radiated energy like all light that includes visible light and not visible. You may not be able to see it, still can be measured.
PAR
"Electromagnetic radiation in the part of the spectrum used by plants for photosynthesis"
Electromagnetic!!!!! Really the sun emits electromagnetic radiation...Sheez I thought it was a big ball of flaming gasses not a big giant rotating dynamo.
So...plants have been around for how long? And we have been generating light electrically for how long? And why is the magnetic field important to they're survival?
You seem to read and miscomprehend what I wrote. I NEVER SAID PAR WAS LUMENS> I said Par is a part of light spectrum, and light is measured. One way to measure light is lumens.
This IS able to be measured. If not in lux or lumen then what?
It's called a PAR METER....Google it.
You will not find PAR measurements inn very many places. Neither will you find many places to get data on different lights in the 5500 to 20,000 K range. Some yes, but not many of them. Sanjays data is about the only useful source I know of. Still yet, because there was a control done, the data varies with many other factors,. As well as Thegrimreefers (I think that's the correct credit) T5HO's data.
wrong, never said that. I said that T8 is more efficient then T5 HO. A T5 HO has more watts and thus more lumens in a bulb but has less lumens per watt then T8. A T5HO is just a high watt bulb of the T5 type. A T8 CAN do what a T5HO does, it will take more bulbs to do it thus more room. T5HO is all about more watts in one bulb for more lumens in one bulb. SO you dont need 6 or 8 T8 but 4 T5HO. If you have FACTS that say otherwise share it.
And when you post something up that uninformed people see and can not tell that those bulbs are different sizes designed to do different things they draw conclusions and it is misleading. While a T8 of a larger length may use slightly less power than a t5 of a smaller length and reportedly put out more visible light, the T5 is better at delivering that light to the user. Just because something puts out more lumen's doesn't mean that those lumen's are efficiently used.
figures you just jumped in to slam someones post with no facts to back up distort what I say then say your done so you dont have to support your claim or answer about how you twisted what I posted.
No I ust jumped in because you linked to it in a thread I was posting in.
You are right, that enough T8's would get you there. But when I had 8 of them over my 135......no way near enough for what 12 T5's would do....There is more to a lamps efficiency than how much light it produces to how many watts are utilized.
Can I go about my own now???
 

xtreeme

Member
"Electromagnetic!!!!! Really the sun emits electromagnetic radiation...Sheez I thought it was a big ball of flaming gasses not a big giant rotating dynamo. So...plants have been around for how long? And we have been generating light electrically for how long? And why is the magnetic field important to they're survival?"
NOW you are even saying the dictionary is wrong. If your going to argue with the dictionary I cant see this discusion getting anywhere.
Here again
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/...20Encyclopedia
"Visible light is the most familiar form of electromagnetic radiation and makes up that portion of the spectrum to which the eye is sensitive. This span is very narrow; the frequencies of violet light are only about twice those of red. The corresponding wavelengths extend from 7 × 10-5 centimetre (red) to 4 × 10-5 centimetre (violet). The energy of a photon from the centre of the visible spectrum (yellow) is hν = 2.2 eV. This is one million times larger than the energy of a photon of a television wave and one billion times larger than that of radio waves in general (see )."
You seem to yell your wrong alot but then you argue with facts in the dictionary I really am done now......
 
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