Clams and T5s

[jbittner]

my lights are 4" off the surface and I do not use a shield between the water and the glass. I do have waterproof endcaps. I read somewhere the icecap end caps can be underwater and not get water in them (so I try not to worry)

 

[jbittner]

I often wonder what the % of reef keepers use t5. I wonder if it's like a Mac computer. The people who have them love them and if anyone changes they never go back.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I have a maxima under my T5's. I have the 4 bulb, 216 watt fixture over my 75 gallon. He is less that halfway down the tank, and he is starting to look dull. He is also developing small patches on his mantle where there is no color, or less color. I'm going to move him up in the tank, and then i'll post back in a week or two.

 

[jbittner]

How old are your bulbs??? Do you vent them??? Are there dark spots on the end??? What bulb configuration do you have???

 

[yama63]

I have had my crocea over a year in the sand bed with 4-54 T-5s on a 75gal I will be adding one more set of t-5s

 

[juin21]

how are your clams doing now???

 

[a4twenty]

bump didly ump

 

[e46mpower]

I have a squamosa on my sand bed (75g aga) and I am using a generic 6x54watt chinese made T5 setup with one big reflector and the clam seems to be doing fine...

 

[gophia]

critterkeeper, I remember your request and I replied.

I started keeping my six clams (two squa, three crocea and one max) under 220W PC and150W ODNO light in 2003. In 2004 I switched to T5 aquired another squa, and there's all still alive and growing! IMO, water quality is way more important than the type of lighting.

 

[critterkeeper]

Glad to hear it I had an interesting conversation with Eric Borneman a few days ago about T5s and the bottom line was that with bad reflectors they're not very good (relative to MH), but with the right reflectors and over a shallow enough tank they apparently really can put out a high PAR number.

Sounds promising. Now to test some bulb combinations with different reflectors. Maybe I can work on it this coming summer...

 

[BonesCJ]

Well I am getting a T. Derasa and will be running it under a Nova Extreme T-5(4*54) down on the sand bed in my 72 bowfront and I will give an update as to how its doing in a month or two.

 

[PupChow]

I am running 6x39w T5 TekLight over a 65g tall tank. I have a Crocea for 2.5 years at the bottom of the tank and a Deresa for a year that doubled in size. No problem so far!

 

[mthedude]

T5's are gaining a massive following and respect among reefers w/SPS and clams. The tek fixtures are great and the 8 bulb fixtures are comparable to 400w MH's as far as PAR. They don't need fans and won't raise temps by more than a degree or two. The bulbs last close to 2 years and are relatively inexpensive to replace. It all comes down to the reflectors though. The tek reflectors are among the best and come close to tripling the output of the bulb. There was a tank of the month awhile back that used 8 T5's on a 110g tank; here's the link http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

 

[fours2many]

A bit blurry but here is a picture

A bit blurry but here is a picture

of my crocea. Had it about a year under 4/54w T-5 bulbs. Now have it under 6/54w T-5 bulbs. Doing great

 

[bawla47]

bret, ive had a crocea for 7-8 months on the sand bed with my t5s, good shell growth too. i actually had to move it up since switching to halides

 

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8582148#post8582148 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bawla47
bret, ive had a crocea for 7-8 months on the sand bed with my t5s, good shell growth too. i actually had to move it up since switching to halides

with 14k 150's you would have to move him up for sure.

 

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8552058#post8552058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mthedude
T5's are gaining a massive following and respect among reefers w/SPS and clams. The tek fixtures are great and the 8 bulb fixtures are comparable to 400w MH's as far as PAR. They don't need fans and won't raise temps by more than a degree or two. The bulbs last close to 2 years and are relatively inexpensive to replace. It all comes down to the reflectors though. The tek reflectors are among the best and come close to tripling the output of the bulb. There was a tank of the month awhile back that used 8 T5's on a 110g tank; here's the link http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

i just don't see the advantage other than the temperature difference? ( and up here it's a bonus, heaters are on less )

8 x 54w = 432w, i guess it should be somewhat close on the par.
8 x $20 ( i live in canada but should be relative ) = $160, i pay $85 for 400W MH 10k - 20k
the start up cost is about $800 for t5, i paid about $450

i am by no means bashing t5's or saying they're no good for clams or sps, i just don't see the advantage.

 

[fours2many]

i just don't see the advantage other than the temperature difference? ( and up here it's a bonus, heaters are on less )

Are you saying you only have 1 MH on a tank that is 100+ gallons? Being that MH are pinpoint lamps, how would a 6 ft tank be lit by 1 bulb? Now if you multiply your cost by 2 or 3, you can see the difference. Plus T-5 last 18 months to 2 years, how often must MH be changed?

 

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8587548#post8587548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fours2many
Are you saying you only have 1 MH on a tank that is 100+ gallons? Being that MH are pinpoint lamps, how would a 6 ft tank be lit by 1 bulb? Now if you multiply your cost by 2 or 3, you can see the difference. Plus T-5 last 18 months to 2 years, how often must MH be changed?

the tank we were talking about was 4'. so lets look at a 6', the place i order online doesn't have 6' fixtures but we'll work around that.

(16) 36" bulbs x $20 is $320 for for 18 months vs. 2 x $85 x 2 ( for 18 months ) is $340 for 400w MH
(2) 36" T5 ballast's and reflectors @ $750 ea. = $ 1500

even if you don't think (2) 400's are enough and we needed 3. ( can't see how as (3) 250's would do it )

t5's for 6' = $1820 for 2 yrs.
3 400w MH = $1470 for 2 yrs.

either way as i said above i'm not bashing T5's, the reason i'm following this thread is i was thinking about getting some for a SPS prop tank or raceways and still might as i don't need an 8 bulb fixture. :spin3:

 

[nanoreefbro]

I'm upgrading my 110 gal to a 135 gal tank.. 54x24x24.. How many T5's would I need?? I have a deresa and a crocea. I'm trying to decide between the Icecap retrofit 6 or 8 bulb configuration.