Brand Names...and other lighting Qs

[Myka]

Hey all!

Are the Catalina Aquarium T5 tubes any good? If they are cheap crap, please tell me how this would affect their performance.

How about "German style OE" MH bulbs?

Aside from how they look what is the difference between mogul and HQI MH bulbs? Is one more expensive to replace than the other? Is one better than the other? Last longer?

How often should MH bulbs be replaced? How about T5s?

Why are MH usually supplemented with PC? Why not T5? If you are supplementing with PC or T5, what is the purpose for doing so? Is it just to change the color (using actinics or 50/50)? Is it to replicate the dusk/dawn affect? If so, would it be best to use actinics, or? If you are supplementing for additional watts per gallon, would you not want to use T5 instead of PC?

Thanks for any help! :rollface:

 

[Myka]

Anyone?

 

[Myka]

Hrm...

 

[horkn]

I cant really answer the mh questions, besides the De Mh need glass in between then and the tank, so UV doesnt toast your corals. the SE (mogul) bulbs already have 2 layers of glass, so they are good to go. as far as longevity of SE vs SE, i "think" DE lasta little longer than SE. but I want to hear what people that use both have to say about that.

as far as when MH need to be replaced, all i hear is 8 months.


now t5ho, this i can talk about with authority.

you can get up to 2 years on t5ho bulbs. generally, 18 months is how long the blue spectrum bulbs last, and 24months for the day bulbs.
I have near 16 months on mine, and they look as bright as day one.
why most mh fixtures have PC on them? well, its the companies wanting to use up the PC stash they have. t5ho are superior in every way to PC. they last 3 times longer, use less electricity, produce more light(PAR) and make less heat, as well as having more color choices, and soon a real honest to goodness good t5ho actinic, although the blue+ is pretty darn good for a non actinic bulb.

 

[Pyrrhus]

There is noo hard evidence that T5 bulbs are capable of being run that long without severe losses in output.

 

[Pyrrhus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7175541#post7175541 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus
There is no hard evidence that T5 bulbs are capable of being run that long without severe losses in output.

 

[Myka]

horkn: The DE are the HQI? And they need glass in between? Wow, that's good to know!!!! I wouldn't have done that! thanks for the input - glad I finally got some!

 

[horkn]

there is no hard evidence that say that overdriving t5ho will not prematuely wear out t5ho bulbs either.

however, outside of lab tests, many reefers have noticed shorter bulb longevity while overdriving them.


there is hard evidence that the ge day bulb in particular has shown minimal decrease in lumens and PAR after a 3 year run time. one of the lighting companies tested this, and when i was researching the use of t5ho on my tank (over a year and a half ago) i found this info. i didnt copy the link, but if you searcha round a little, you will find it. it was outside of RC

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7177414#post7177414 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Myka
horkn: The DE are the HQI? And they need glass in between? Wow, that's good to know!!!! I wouldn't have done that! thanks for the input - glad I finally got some!

heres a good use of the quote button.


de is double ended, and yes, that is the same as HQI. the de do need glass in between to cut the UV lighting down. take a look at any mogul / se bulb, you will see its glass within glass. the de bulbs are not, and rely on the glass sheild to filter the uv out.

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7175547#post7175547 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus

hmm, thats weird.


:lol:

but, i can borrow a PAR meter to show results of my bulbs PAR at 16 months. however, i do not have the baseline of my setup, so i would need to see what others are getting for par from a normally driven ge bulb, as well as my ati blues. and that would not be totally accurate, due to differences in ballasts, and bulbs. and even run time on the bulbs in my retro, vs others

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7177428#post7177428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by horkn
there is no hard evidence that say that overdriving t5ho will not prematuely wear out t5ho bulbs either.

There is hard evidence of overdriving shortening the life of NO fluoros, and VHOs.

T5s are the same technology, so theres no need to do a study on them.


As to bulb length, there was a guy doing some pretty decent studies, and he was comparing the Par of brand new bulbs (T5, MH,etc) at different ages on all the members in his club, and T5s had lost a TON of par within 6 months, and the overdriven ones were worse.

His reccomendation was 9 months on T5s at the absolute longest, which makes sense to me, as we're saying 6 months on NO fluoros..which run cooler.

 

[Myka]

Ah I get it now.... DE = double end, SE = single end??? Oi...gotta love the newbies...

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7177476#post7177476 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
There is hard evidence of overdriving shortening the life of NO fluoros, and VHOs.

T5s are the same technology, so theres no need to do a study on them.


As to bulb length, there was a guy doing some pretty decent studies, and he was comparing the Par of brand new bulbs (T5, MH,etc) at different ages on all the members in his club, and T5s had lost a TON of par within 6 months, and the overdriven ones were worse.

His reccomendation was 9 months on T5s at the absolute longest, which makes sense to me, as we're saying 6 months on NO fluoros..which run cooler.

and this proves i didnt make this up. i saw the same posts rich, and it had me shocked, esp after IC saying that using their ballasts to overdrive t5ho will not decrease life of the bulbs.

thank you for showing that there is proof, while not specifically scientific (no grants being used:lol: ) they are done methodically by a hobbyist.

 

[RichConley]

The one thing i question about his study, was that theres no way to tell if its the bulbs themselves, or if its an issue of improper venting, and the heat inside a hood shortening the life, but theres no way to really tell at this point.

I'm gonna try to dig up that spreadsheet.

 

[swoop_ds]

So t5s don't actually last for 18months???
-Dave

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7179050#post7179050 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by swoop_ds
So t5s don't actually last for 18months???
-Dave

i have 16 months on mine. no sign of them going dim yet

 

[Pazazz]

BEWARE OF CATALINA AQUARUIM... CROOKED COMPANY!!!

 

[Myka]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7180855#post7180855 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pazazz
BEWARE OF CATALINA AQUARUIM... CROOKED COMPANY!!!

Thanks for the comment (although I believe you're supposed to say negative things in PM). Can you elaborate please?

I have decided not to use them anyway.