Lighting Help, T5 vs HQI

smokez01

smokez01

New member
I am trying to decide if i should invest into a 6 bulb 48" long TEK light system for my 75g,

OR

I am able to get a coralife HQI 48" 2x150w 20k fixture for 300 bucks, keep in mind this is a friggin excellent bargain,

ive been trying to decide for a loooong time now, about 4 months, and settled for the TEK, but i was recently handed this deal i am not sure which one to go for....


but i do not know which one to choose? the price of the HQI is making me cream my pants compared to the TEK,

i know i will be able to grow acros, etc etc, i totally love brightness, but overall, 300w compared to 324w, i dont know which one will be more energy efficient, which will save more on electric bill in the future, and i dont know which one will be brighter, etc etc, im feeling the HQI's will be better because I will only have them running for about 6-8 hours, i've read T5's need 9+. Also i am worried about heat, the aquarium stays stable around 79-80 degrees, i am NOT investing in a chiller.


if i was going to go with the 6bulb i was planning to go with 4 B+ and 2 B

thanks in advance.

Stephan
 
A 6 bulb tek light is WAY WAY WAY more light than that 2x150w HQI setup man....Im not sure where you got this idea that a 150w DE bulb is even close to a 250w SE but you had better check your information because they arent even in the same ballpark man. A 6 bulb tek light is as bright or brighter than most 250w SE setups, and a typical 250w SE is atleast 2x as bright as thier 150w DE counterpart. Go look at Sanjays numbers for 150w vs 250w....The XM 150 is like 60ishPAR and the 250w is like 130ish (more than 2x as much PAR). I will state this again....just because its DE does NOT mean it puts out more light watt for watt...infact when talking about XM bulbs, the SE 250w puts out more than the DE 250w..lets not even mention when you run the SE on an HQI ballast, it STOMPS the DE into the ground.
 
HQIs are overdriven. With that in mind, 150w HQI aren't overdriven enought to equal a 250w SE. I would go with the TEK light. I've heard that it is great quality, and it has the individual reflectors. T5 bulbs will also last a while, so you don't have to change them every couple of months.
 
I was handed a deal myself, and had to take it for MH, but I was going to do a t-5 system. I am kinda regretting it now. I just saw this post today. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=728429
Also here is a guys tank that is all t-5
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=700454
I would do t-5, but I got everything tank, stand, overflow, lights, ballasts, vho and MH and a really nice reflector for 275.
Also there is a new actinic out for t-5 that is supposed to be as good as the URI vho (made by same company). Plus I hear t-5 are more effeicent and the replacement is 1.5-2 years vs 8-12 months.
 
Do not buy the T5s expecting it to look like Iwan's tank.....His tank has alot more going on than lighting guys. The typical T5 tank does not look that good. I run T5s on my tank and while the colors are nice on most things, for the most part, the corals look very pastel rather than deep/rich. If you look at the latest pictures of his tank, you can see how everything has lightened in color since the original photos were taken. Granted, it still looks great, but there is a very big difference it seems in the colors that T5 bring out, and what MH bring out. For that reason, even with all the advantages of T5, I think I will be adding some MH to my tank soon.....That is if I cant get the colors I want with my next order of bulbs :). Either way I will be using them for actinic supps at the very lest.
 
I'm not positive here but I think I remember reading Iwan changes his T5s every 8 mths because they lose the correct light spectrum? Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't want to read all the way through that thread again.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7466304#post7466304 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Horace
...very big difference it seems in the colors that T5 bring out... For that reason...I think I will be adding some MH to my tank soon...
Click to expand...

but, but, but...

i thought it was for the shimmer! :p

'bout time. do it already. :D
 
I would go with the T5 (and for the record, I was planning on a 2x250watt HQI/DE setup with pheonix 14,000Ks). I am running two 40bs, top and bottom, with linked water flow. The top is run with a 250wattDE 14,000K pheonix. The bottom is a tek 6x39watt unit with a mix of 2xblue+, 2xactinic+, 2xaquablue to give a look very similar to that of a 14,000K. The intensity of the T5 just smokes the halide...no PAR meter even needed. Its something like 2x as bright visually.

I am growing frags of the same corals in each tank, and the T5 corals are growing faster, and with more color. My next large tank will most likely be all T5...and I was planning on all halide...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7468397#post7468397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Benny Z
but, but, but...

i thought it was for the shimmer! :p

'bout time. do it already. :D
Click to expand...

Well I am not quite ready to bag the T5s yet, but I am close. There is no doubt that T5s are bright and do grow SPS well, however, like I said before, If I cant get my greens to look better than they do after my new order of bulbs, I will likely be using T5s for supplementing my MH :).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7468904#post7468904 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
I would go with the T5 (and for the record, I was planning on a 2x250watt HQI/DE setup with pheonix 14,000Ks). I am running two 40bs, top and bottom, with linked water flow. The top is run with a 250wattDE 14,000K pheonix. The bottom is a tek 6x39watt unit with a mix of 2xblue+, 2xactinic+, 2xaquablue to give a look very similar to that of a 14,000K. The intensity of the T5 just smokes the halide...no PAR meter even needed. Its something like 2x as bright visually.

I am growing frags of the same corals in each tank, and the T5 corals are growing faster, and with more color. My next large tank will most likely be all T5...and I was planning on all halide...
Click to expand...

My new order of bulbs is going to be exactly what you run, except it will be with the new UV Actinic rather than the current craptastic one. I am hoping this is the ticket for me.....My current setup of 2xAB, 3xB+, 1xGE just seems to be washing out the colors of some corals.....Purples seem to do well under my current setup, but greens fade to yellow, and reds/oranges fade to pink. Hopefully this all turns around when the new bulbs arrive.
 
I have a 90G (24" deap) lit with a 8X54w tek 5 and have a bunch of healthy sps and 8 clams. I did have to take out two bulbs right away beause it was overheating the tank.

for me the big seller is how it looks. with MH you have the huge pendents or of you want VHO with it you have a hood. with the tek T 5 fixture you have a realy slick low profile unit. make sure to get the optional hanging kit.
 
Or just retro some into a canopy for even better results with a 660. :)

canopy5.jpg


canopy6.jpg
 
As you can see, he has 6 over a 120g which is alot wider and alot taller than a 75g. You can see how his reflectors are also not butted up against eachother. Mine are as tight as they can get and take up exactly 15" of space in my canopy over my 75. Thats alot more light/area....I think 6 bulbs for a 120 is probably just about right and 6 on a 75 is a bit much.

I would like to note that TGR's test of T5s was with 4 bulbs, not 6. The 4 bulb setup put down quite a bit more PAR than the 250w 14k halide he was using. I would assume that adding another 2 bulbs only increases this even further which tells me that 6 is NOT needed....however, I really like the combos of bulbs you can use when you have 6 and for that reason I am going to stick with 6, but I may very well raise my bulbs up a bit because its a bit much IMO.
 
Exactly Horace. I currently have the 4 "white" bulbs on the 660 and the 2 "blue" bulbs on a spec ballast. I did this because I wanted the dawn/dusk effect. I'm going to change the 4 whites at some point to probably 2 whites, a blue and a GE 6500K, I just haven't gotten around to it. I could easily add another couple of T5 to my 120, but then I realize that 6 is probably overkill and 8 would for sure be overkill, for my tank at least.
 
For some reason everyone on here thinks you need to pack as many T5s over the tank that will fit....I am CERTAIN this is not needed. I would say 4 bulbs will be plenty for a 75g, especially if you use an icecap. For a 120g, I think 6 is just about right, but overdriving them still is probably not needed, even with the added depth, but I guess if you want to have clams on your sandbed, it may help a bit.
 
Oh I agree again. I had a 4x54W on the 660 for the longest time. I had to redo the entire canopy so I just added the other two in because it was convenient and I had everything laying around. The 4x54/660 combo was bright enough, but I wanted the dusk/dawn too. I didn't NEED 2 more bulbs, I jut wanted them. :)

Oh yeah, I've got a squammy on the sandbed that's lookin' good and a crocea up higher.
 
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