Another t-5 discussion

[jfl14609]

After reading the post from Kase it made me wonder, now that time has passed how man people have gone back to metal halide? I was a huge t-5 fan loved the colors less heat etc. But the cost to keep replacing bulbs was outrageous, so I went back to metal halide and just wondering if anyone else has done the same?

 

[toddmh]

I have MH system on one tank and t5's on another..both are doing very well..The only light problem i've had was my night led's bleaching a couple sps corals..I stopped using the LED's,now colors are getting better..

I'm still pretty new to the hobby though,so it's impossible for me to judge as of yet..

 

[jfl14609]

I ran 8 t-5s overdriven on my 120 for about two years but I had to replace bulbs every 8 mos at 20 bucks each thats 160 bucks not including tax or shipping where my mh bulbs i change 12 to 14 mos for 120 in the long run thats much cheaper

 

[briangsxr1000]

I am running 4 overdriven bulbs on my 120. Isn't running 8 a little extreme?
I am new to the t5s. Was it a sps dominant tank?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I never jumped on the T5 bandwagon

I never jumped on the T5 bandwagon

I'm not saying T5's are "bad" but I like my VHO's and halides.

Ironically... it's taking me longer than the lifespan of a T5 bulb to research a replacement for my 4+ year old MH lamp :lol:

 

[jfl14609]

Yeah gary arent you still running those 5500k bulbs haha. As far as the 4 bulbs I have mainly sps and I also had three clams then

 

[jfl14609]

Gary you know whats funny I was running the 2 250 watt 12k reeflux bulbs and 2 54 watt actinic t-5s my colors pop more with just the metal halides.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

shhhhhhh!

 

[captain7359]

Why only 8 months on the T5's and where are you getting mh for $60 bucks a piece that last a year plus? Cost has to be based on an apples to apples comparison and I think 8 overdriven T5's is way more light than 2 250M mh. What was your actual input wattage on the MH? Sometimes it can be quite a bit higher than the 250W output. How much chiller or AC runtime did you save? If you're still using the T5 as supplement then are you still at $160 or are the reeflux $40?

 

[jaybfresh]

I just switched back to MH for 2 main reasons:
1) Switched to an open top tank, and I very much preferred just to hang the halide pendants rather than build a hanging canopy for my T5 retros
2) Preferred the look of halides over T5

Cost was negligible when comparing 3 250w halide bulbs in a year vs 6 80w T5 bulbs over 9 months.

 

[jfl14609]

Why only 8 months on the T5's and where are you getting mh for $60 bucks a piece that last a year plus? Cost has to be based on an apples to apples comparison and I think 8 overdriven T5's is way more light than 2 250M mh. What was your actual input wattage on the MH? Sometimes it can be quite a bit higher than the 250W output. How much chiller or AC runtime did you save? If you're still using the T5 as supplement then are you still at $160 or are the reeflux $40?

honestly I have no clue about the input wattage I just know that I get the same growth. as far as the chillers and ac I have never run an ac specially for the tank nor do I have a chiller. I am not using the t-5s anymore they aren't needed I am very happy with the par and looks of my tank without them and growth is great. I get the reeflux mh bulbs for about 60 each thats where I got the 120. I was running geissman bulbs on ice cap ballast and you could visually see a difference in the bulbs after 8 mos and when I noticed a larger amount of algae and lower par readings. I know you do alott more research than I do around 8 mos haven't you noticed a huge drop in par values?

 

[shroutk3]

I was just at a lecture given by an Ecoxotic LED guy at the Frag swap in lancaster. From what that guy said (biased I'm sure), MH doesn't really seem to be a good choice. His data had their output plumuting after 4-6 months, with normal driven, cooled t-5s going 9-12. His other considerations was the amount of mercury found in MH bulbs- much higher than anything else, and disposal is usually unregulated.
He also pointed out that people used to run VHOs for sps and clam dominant with no problems- makes the intense lighting for MH seem unnecessay.
I'm happy with my t-5s, and someone else probably wouldn't be. I think that's the way it will always be...

 

[Gravesj1s]

I use to run 250 Icecaps,giessmans in reef optics as well. I didn't like the color switched to aquaconnects.I would have kept them but the thing I didn't like most is all the light spillage on more narrow tanks.To much waste IMO.

Running a ATI 54watt 4 bulb unit,according to grimreefer it will give 250 watt fixtures a run for their money depending on reflector.

 

[Flanders]

I don't care for the look of t-5s at all. I like shadows and shimmer.

 

[Ellery]

I am running 3 250 HQI on my 125 -2x10K and 1x20K. It's been over a year since I changed them and they still are doing well. I may eventually switch back to 2x15K and 1x20K next time instead.

I was just looking at the DRSF&S Catalog to see how much T5s cost and personally I want to reduce energy use but the MH seems to be more pleasant and great fro my anemones.

 

[dan10342]

8 overdriven t5s might have been overkill. 8 normal driven HO bulbs would last longer than overdriven bulbs though. I know high quality halide bulbs cost quite a bit of money as well. just food for thought though.

edit: never mind about what i said about switching from halide to t5. not relevent to the thread. carry on

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I hope I can speak openly here on our local forum without offending anyone - and I will definitely admit this is a highly personal choice, but I really strongly dislike T5. IMHO they offer several of the disadvantages of VHO (chiefly a lack of contrast as Flanders noted) with worse coloration. I'm with Gary - among "conventional" reef lighting choices, I really like warmer MH with VHO supplementation.

 

[Johnny C]

I own a MH and a T5 fixture and I like the T5's 100% better. Why? Because they produce less heat, better coloration and at the same time provide more than enough par to house anything I want.

Dan hit the nail on the head... if you overdrive your T5s with a non-spec (i.e. IceCap) ballast, you'll get a higher par reading but at the same time you'll go through bulbs a lot quicker, as Jeff suggested.

If you are however running Current brand bulbs, do yourself a favor and throw them away. They only emit half of the light that the German (i.e. Giesemann) bulbs produce and the color spectrum is mediocre at best.

With that being said, it <i>is</i> refreshing to see the shimmer effect of MH but personally it's not worth the drawbacks. Just my $0.02!

 

[Bluephish13]

I run 6 54w on my 60 gal long sps dominant. As a semi-newb i have to many other factors that contribute to my colors and growth rates to really make a judgement on how i like them.


It would be really cool to take a tank like gary's that you know is stable in maturity, parims,coral colors, and growth rates, ect..

Then swap the halides for t5's, and check the difference.

 

[kase]

It is really just what you like. I personally like T5 because it give off less heat so i don't have to worry about tank over heating in the summer months. It definately use less electricity too. I replace my bulbs every 12 months. Another reason i like T5 is that you can play around with a lot of different spectrum.