T-5 lights?
- Thread starter fraggle_a
- Start date
some1fishy
Member
I run 4 on my 55, with two blue actinic's. I like em, dont use em for a reef tank. Great for fish only. Cant beat pc's or mh's for reefs though.
saltfan
Active Member
They only make em as long as 48", and 4 lights in a fixture, so if you figure with VHO, you only need 2 lamps on a 72" for 320watts, the T-5 I believe largest wattage only goes to 55watts per light, you need twice as many lights to equal the output of 2 VHO lights. SOme people say they are better than VHO, but if you do the math, I don't see how they could be.
fraggle_a
Member
I had a look online and a lot fo people are saying that they are VHOs themselves. Having a higher lumen output per Watt than PCs.
I lost the site, I was going to past the comment about that, but I had to go AFK.
Theres a thread on here someone (i did a search) and it seems that the T-5s are almost kickass.
... Ill have to read it in depth later.
I lost the site, I was going to past the comment about that, but I had to go AFK.
Theres a thread on here someone (i did a search) and it seems that the T-5s are almost kickass.
... Ill have to read it in depth later.
T
tampausmc
Guest
hmm.....you should definitely post up the results of your investigation, I'm curious as to how these compare to PC lighting.....I just purchased my PC lighting, but if these are indeed better I might reconsider.....anything better without buying MH (only because i can't get myself to spend that much for a 28 gallon bowfront and i'd have a nasty shadow with that bowfront center brace)
saltfan
Active Member
T-5 are better than normal Power Compacts. They have a higher output. But I have a problem with the T-5 being better than VHO. Do the math, iwth twice the bulbs to get twice the light. One 48" T-5 -55w =220w 2VHO -48" = 220w. And the similarities gets worse for T-5 as you get bigger. But, in order for you to get more output form a T-5 for a 72" fixture you spend quite a bit more. T-5 not in 72" lengths you have to buy 2 36" fixtures, 4 lamps each at 95w per= 8 bulbs - 760w. 72" VHO 4 bulbs at 160w each= 640w. SO theoretically if you put the same amount of bulbs in as you do T-5, 8 lamps at 72" at 160w= 1280watts.
saltnewbee
New Member
does any one own the t5 light?
puffer32
Active Member
I own the T5's. I can't say how good they are, because i just got them, They now have a 10K bulb, just out. My LFS has them on all his display tanks and they look great, has every coral imaginable under these lights. He claims i have equal to over 400 watts on my 150. Without even turning on my lights (100 watts) that came with the setup. And these lights run cool and use less electricty to run. So even though i plan on keeping just softies, his tanks have everything in them!
saltnewbee
New Member
i just bought a set today and just set them up. didn't know if i was supposed to take the plasic off of the bulbs. does yours have a fan?
puffer32
Active Member
Yes it does have a fan, and i would think you have to take off the plastic or it would melt when the bulbs got hot, though they really don't throw off alot of heat. Did you get the 10K bulbs in yours? Mine came with the regular bulbs cause the 10Ks just came out so I bought just 1 to see if I could see a difference in the brightness, haven't put it in yet, might go out and get enough for the whole fixture, they are pretty cheap compared to my coral life bulbs.
saltnewbee
New Member
yes mine has the 10k bulbs. haven't set it up yet so i don't know how bright they are but i will tonight. do you constantly run your fan?
saltnewbee
New Member
don't think i can take that noise all night. the tank is in my beedroom. i guess ill be lightless at night. thanks for reasponding also. just set up my tank two days ago and can't wait to get fish
saltnewbee
New Member
you doing fish and lr or coral?
saltnewbee
New Member
man thats nice. seeing pics like that makes me think real hard about it. being this is my first saltwater adventure everyone is telling me to just do fish and lr but im buying the best of everything just incase. i would love to own something that looks like that
T
toungetwster
Guest
There are 2 types of T-5 lights; normal and HO. The HO stands for high output and there is a very big difference. I use T-5' HO with PC's on my 125 and will be upgrading to Halides & T-5's once I have my canopy built. T-5 HO will come close to a MH setup and run much cooler. The cost factor is less but IMO, doesn't quite give the look and yes they are smaller in size and watts; so you'll need more! I've read that for every 2" (measuring front to back of tank) you need to have 1 T-5 bulb, to get close to MH look.
All in all I've played with PC, T-5's, VHO's, now I'm just going to bite the bullet and get some Halides and be done with it!
All in all I've played with PC, T-5's, VHO's, now I'm just going to bite the bullet and get some Halides and be done with it!
puffer32
Active Member
Originally Posted by saltnewbee
man thats nice. seeing pics like that makes me think real hard about it. being this is my first saltwater adventure everyone is telling me to just do fish and lr but im buying the best of everything just incase. i would love to own something that looks like that
Yeah me to lol! I hated leaving it behind
But this new one will be bigger and better!
And no reason you can't have one like it or better, my lighting was only 260 watt PC.
man thats nice. seeing pics like that makes me think real hard about it. being this is my first saltwater adventure everyone is telling me to just do fish and lr but im buying the best of everything just incase. i would love to own something that looks like that
Yeah me to lol! I hated leaving it behind