Which light to keep for a softie / sps tank? vho o T-5

nachoboi

New Member
I got 3 vhos at 140-160watt *cant remember* currently on my 120. it does the jobs for most lps and my xenia and mushrooms. but i want to start to keep sps! im wondering if i should invest into the helios 54watt HO T-5. they all come as seperate fixtures each with its own reflector. *not a retrofit*. if you do say i should kick the vhos for 6x54watt t-5, then how many helios
t-5s should i get? just to let u kno the tank is 24 inches deep. but what about wattage? the vho is at 420 and the t-5 is only at 324 watts
 

murph145

Active Member
IMO sps really need metal halides.... u can run T-5's from what ive seen but i think ur gunna need to be closer to about 500-600 watts of it over ur tank...
softies will be happy with anything but sps are more light demanding so ud need alot of T-5's for them to keep nicely colored and growing
 

wangotango

Active Member
if you cant afford halide T5 is a great choice, but you will need a lot more than what you're thinking, probably 10 bulbs at least. i would look into something better than the helios though, maybe an aquactinics solar flare until ATI comes to the us.
-Justin
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
I just put the bank of ten Helios on that frag tank (inccidently I am the only one that seems to care about it) I have always been a MH guy but after seeing these Helios in action I might explore more. They just run so dang cool and silent. no fans no large ballasts and the biggest selling point is the bulb life being 4x what you get from MH. So I am now on the fence.
 

nachoboi

New Member
id buy MH's but i jus hate them soo much. you kno, the bulb and ballast run hot, need some extra fans, possibly a chiller,and needs a higher canopy. but ive read in some places that t-5 are almost the same and even a better alternative to mh. in my area mhs sell for 200+for one retro unit. the helios HO here only cost 25 dollars for a 48" 54watt t-5ho unit so a 60" is probally maybe a few bucks more. i think i could prablly squeeze in only 6 units in my canopy but i can upgrade to 80watt per unit.
 

mudplayerx

Active Member
I agree with Murph. Go with metal hallides. Most of the sps have very intense lighting requirements. If you are worried about heat, buy the pendant-style lighting.
I have them and the tank only overheats in the summer, which is easily compensated by using a cheap fan or using a ceiling fan. Fans only use about 5watts of electricity so it's much much cheaper than using a canopy-style MH with a chiller.
Here are the lights I have.
ps- someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it wasn't a good idea to mix sps and softies due to the softies releasing toxins.
 

nachoboi

New Member
hmm i never thought of the pendants but its a possiblity. well the sps are going to be in the top as the softies will be in the mid bottom. but what about this t-5 hype? everybody says this and that but whos right?in terms of cost, and operation(electricty), light output, and efficieny which is best?
 

killerbee181

New Member
I have 4 x 54watt T-5's and 4 x 65watt PC's on a 90gal reef and I have plenty of light. I have acro's and they all do very well. Although i have to put my lower light corals on the bottom cause they do start to bleach. I love my T-5's there much cheaper and way cooler. Plus they last alot longer. The T-5's I have are twice as bright as the PC's i have.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by mudplayerx
ps- someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it wasn't a good idea to mix sps and softies due to the softies releasing toxins.
as long as you run carbon and do frequent water changes it not bad to mix softies and SPS the biggest problem is the tentancy for softies to outgrow/overgrow or sting the sps if not spaced far enough apart.
 

nachoboi

New Member
Originally Posted by killerbee181
I have 4 x 54watt T-5's and 4 x 65watt PC's on a 90gal reef and I have plenty of light. I have acro's and they all do very well. Although i have to put my lower light corals on the bottom cause they do start to bleach. I love my T-5's there much cheaper and way cooler. Plus they last alot longer. The T-5's I have are twice as bright as the PC's i have.
oh really? starting to bleach dang. hmm yeah all the reasons u stated is why i am in the direction into buying it. i did the math my canopy is 18"wide 72"long 6" deep. the helios fixture is 2.5 inches. if i do the math i should be able to put in 7 max. the wattage should be 7x54=378watt on the other hand 7x80=560watts. im pretty sure the 560watts total is supplemtal?. right? (sps at high top)
 

killerbee181

New Member
LOL your gonna need to tint the glass to stop you from getting a sun burn!!!
You gotta remember when working with T-5's they put out about twice the lumens per watt then any other type of flourescent, but as long as ur tanks pretty tall u should be ok with 7.
I've been experimenting with some sps frags and putting them at different levels in the tank and i'm even getting very good growth from a few that i literally put in the sand.
 

lazypinoy

Member
Originally Posted by NachoBoi
id buy MH's but i jus hate them soo much. you kno, the bulb and ballast run hot, need some extra fans, possibly a chiller,and needs a higher canopy. but ive read in some places that t-5 are almost the same and even a better alternative to mh. in my area mhs sell for 200+for one retro unit. the helios HO here only cost 25 dollars for a 48" 54watt t-5ho unit so a 60" is probally maybe a few bucks more. i think i could prablly squeeze in only 6 units in my canopy but i can upgrade to 80watt per unit.
25$??? um those arent the ones u want. u probally talking about the disposable helios t-5 ho's. u need the REAL fixtures. unless ur fine buying newones everytime the light blows out. stick with what u got tilll u can afford decent halides. plus i dont think mixing sps with lps, softies look too good imo
 
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