Anyone planning to order the UVT5HO?

[dannieboiz]

I probably wouldn't switch to t5 just because of these bulbs.

These bulbs are only good for suppliments. It's cheaper in the long run to use MH as your main lightings.

The bulb is basically a T5 bulb that gives out just as nice of an actinic color as the VHO or better? I dunno, haven't seen facts yet but that's for what they claimed.

Here's the original thread

 

[PiNaPLeX]

I agree with dannieboiz, I'm only running these UVL T5's as supplements to my 2x250MHs

 

[Elite]

I'm not only using these bulbs..
I have 250W MH now. Too much heat lately. Yesterday my 29G (has 1x250W)went up to 88 degree and it's not summer yet. Hopefully I don't see any "white" coral when I get home today.

 

[Kinetic]

88 degrees? WOW! Put a few fans on that!

My small 5g tank shot up to 83 yesterday!! And I was already freaking out.

It has a 70watt HQI over it though...

 

[Elite]

I only have 1 fan.. 16" right on top of it.

My house was hella hot yesterday. The AC is not working. Somebody suppose to come next week to get it fix ..

 

[Kinetic]

ah, goodluck with the tank!

 

[s3aL]

Ill take 2 of the 48" UVI superactinic T5 bulbs .

I retired my 2x250w DE MH 2x110w VHO combo awhile ago. Its all about T5's .

 

[R33f3r]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7363054#post7363054 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by s3aL
Its all about T5's .

:thumbsup:

 

[Sparkss]

I agree that MH may be cheaper to run than a full blown T5 setup (at the level required to keep clams and SPS). At least from the light electrical usage, not taking chiller usage/additional heat into account.

I also agree that the new UVI bulbs are not a reason to switch from MH to T5s.

But these tanks are enough to make one consider switching :

The cover of reefkeeping this month is a T5 only tank (been that way for at least 2 years, I believe)

http://reefkeeping.com/index.htm

Last years March TOTM was T5 lighting only :

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

This tank is also T5 only (actually the tank from the Reefkeeping cover )

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7363079#post7363079

 

[Jacob D]

Hey Spark. A lot of T5 guys like to point out those tanks too, but I would say they are the exception rather than the rule. I have been using T5 for about 2 1/2 years on my current tank, I'm over the need to justify my purchase so I have no problem saying the following...

* 320w of T5 on 75g Tank = enough to keep SPS and clams
* Coral Growth = not bad at all, could be a little better though
* Coral Color = leaves something to be desired
* Bulb Life = 18 months is pushing it
* Heat Output = I really should have a chiller but I make do without
* Would I buy them again? = I'm on the fence still. The thing I like most is not having the heat of the halides but they're still pretty hot.

Maintenance and overall husbandry plays the biggest role in a tanks success (I believe) which I'm sure is how those tank owners you linked to above did it. But as far as lighting goes it's pretty much a no brainer that you don't have to 'work as hard' to get excellent color and growth with MH. I think going T5 can produce great results but adds another degree of challenge in getting there.

My .02

 

[Sparkss]

The thing I liked about T5 vs MH is that the T5 provides a much more even coverage, without the extra troubles and special requirements that MHs carry with them. Just my opinion based on the T5 tanks compared to the MH tanks.

 

[dannieboiz]

I think all t5 bulbs lack the crisp daylight looks as you would get out of MH. No matter how u look at it, it's still a florecense bulb.

 

[Sparkss]

I have seen a T5 tank right next to a MH one, and I still prefer the crisper white look of the T5 over the more subdued look of the Mhs (believe me, side by side they do look subdued, and these were 400 W MHs).

 

[Sparkss]

bear in mind I am talking about T5HO, and on an IC ballast, so overdriven as well. I am not referring at all to standard T5s nor to running them on a spec ballast, such as a WH ballast.

 

[Jacob D]

The coverage is more even for sure. If you're planning to overdrive them you can throw the bulb life and heat output advantages out the window. Its a tough call; after owning T5 for a while now I really don't know what I'll do next time.

 

[Sparkss]

well, when over driven cooling fans are a must, or you are right, the life span goes completely out the window, but the heat is still siginifantly less. An average T5 burns at around 90 (if memory servers..), over driven I think they hit 110 or higher. Still a far cry from the heat of a MH (although that may be offset by the sheer number of T5s on most SPS tanks, versus 2 - 4 MHs).

 

[s3aL]

Here is another example what T5's can do for color and growth when it comes to SPS. We all know "Iwan" and "Danano" have amazing T5's SPS tanks but others do as well. Here was NewSchool04 before he had a power outage that crashed the tank. All done with a 6 bulb Tek fixture.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=728429&highlight=T5+growth

 

[sfsuphysics]

I always wondered about the T5 = less heat argument, sure enough the bulbs themselves are at a lower temperature but I was always under the impression that the majority of heat going into the tank is due to radiant energy, so in order for T5 bulbs to put out a compriable amount of light as a metal halide system (and I mean real light not what you can "see") they MUST heat the tank up in a similar fashion. Now true due to the fact metal halide bulbs are concentrated you'll have a hot spot over the t5 linearness, but energy is energy so the water temp should be the same.

 

[Jacob D]

Tom - you might want to check around some more regarding overdriving the bulbs. I don't think the use of fans is going to do much other than mitigate the heat that would have otherwise went into your tank. Just curious, what is your expectancy of bulb life?

Mike - you're exactly right. Take a typical 4 foot long tank; with MH you would have 2 very-hot hot spots. With T5 the entire top of the tank (6 bulbs) would essentially be a not-as-hot hot spot. You could overdrive them and use only 4 bulbs but the heat output of the bulbs goes up so you're in the same boat really. I didn't consider this and I don't think many people do. For arguments sake I'm not mentioning fans because you can use them on MH (and other) lighting too, I'm just comparing straight across the board.

s3al - that is a nice tank, I'd say I get similar coloration to that. He/she keeps their blue and purple a little better than I do but when my tank has been at it's best it looked as good - if not better from a coloration point of view. RJWilson is another T5 user with a nice tank. I'd say that is a very accurate and achievable goal. However it's a far cry from tanks like Danano and Iwan

 

[Sparkss]

Jacob,

I got/get my T5 overdrive info from IceCap, where they post in the 2 main T5 threads here on RC. As for life expectancy, I don't expect 18 months, if that is what you are asking. There is still alot of debate over color shift versus intensity. Some claim that due to the inherent design of a flourescent a color shift is not possilbe, others saw they used a spectrometer and noted a color shift over time. Europeans (like Iwan) change out their bulbs every 6 months, which IMO is a bit excessive, but they do have alot more experience with T5s than we do.

As for heat, I am not really overly concerned about that, it was going to be a nice side benefit, but if it doesn't pan out, then that is OK also. We have a very energy efficient chiller, so I don't cringe at the heat from our lighting anymore.

For T5s I just like the idea of even coverage and a diminishing occurrnce of "one sided corals" where the shaded side is obvious and noticeable.