Lighting question, T5 vs VHO

D

D Ro Supafly

New member
How does a 54 watt T-5 compare to a 110 watt VHO?

I understand that T5s are brighter at a given wattage but I'm not clear on how I'd figure that in since there isn't a 1:1 to compare.

*grumble* When I stopped reefkeeping two years ago, all you had to worry about was your color temperature and your watts per gallon *grumble*
 
well with t5's u have to keep in mind that it varies based on reflectors and if u overdrive them too. Individual reflectors are what makes them as efficient as they are. Ice caps are the most efficient, then comes tek reflectors
 
Overdriven bulbs has shorter life span than those that are not. Same as SE MH bulbs driven by HQI ballast.
 
sorry to interupt, guys, but I'd like for us to go back in the direction of the question I asked. :)

Let's say that the reflectors used are the tek reflectors for the T5s compared to standard reflectors on the VHO bulbs.

Let's also say that in both cases, we are running a total of four 48 inch 110 watt VHO bulbs on an IceCap 440 compared to 4 of the 54 watt T5 bulbs on an IceCap 440.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I expect a 48" T5 HO with a proper reflector to outperform a 48" VHO. Especially when the T5 is overdriven on an icecap ballast. The reflectors significantly improve the PAR performance of the bulb, and because of the better focused light, there is less dropoff as distance from the bulb increases.

The question is whether 4-48" bulbs will be sufficient to cover your tank. In my 250g tank, I run 4-60" T5s on icecaps for ~12hrs a day. MHs come on for <2hrs in the evening. Even my acros are happy with this.
 
No, there is no way that these alone would take care of my tank. They'll supplement five 96 watt PC bulbs (50/50) and two 175 watt MH lights.

As far as overdriving the lamps, will an IceCap 440 overdrive four 54 watt bulbs? I thought you'd need to use a 660 to overdrive them (which just proves to me that I know less and less than I thought ont his subject lol)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8273553#post8273553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by D Ro Supafly
No, there is no way that these alone would take care of my tank. They'll supplement five 96 watt PC bulbs (50/50) and two 175 watt MH lights.

As far as overdriving the lamps, will an IceCap 440 overdrive four 54 watt bulbs? I thought you'd need to use a 660 to overdrive them (which just proves to me that I know less and less than I thought ont his subject lol)
Click to expand...

Yiou are correct the IC 660 will be the ballast to overdrive 4-48" t5's
 
so without overdriving them, the 54 watt T5 provides about the same light as a 110 watt VHO, since an overdriven T5 with the right reflector will outperform the VHO?

Really, I can throw anything in there, MH, VHO, PC, or T5. This will be in the center of the tank, though, so I'd prefer to have multiple lamps instead of one MH. If I do go with MH, I figure it will be a 400 watt light.

I'm going to rockscape so that I have rock piled in the back left and back right corners, going up to water level and sloping down to the center and front of the tank. I may have a solid wall of rock along the back, but I'm not sure yet. I have three smaller tanks packed full of rock that is waiting for me to finish this tank setup. :p
 
I recently went through the same question with myself, but about actinic lighting. I came to the conclusion that the T5 actinic lights were superior in the fact that they produce much more light for the same watts, BUT the actinic VHO are superior (IMO) because the light they produce make the corals flouresce much more than T5 lighting. I ended up going with super actinic VHOs. If I was lighting my tank strictly with one or the other I would go with T5.
 
Awww, man! I hadn't even gotten that far yet!

That settles it. I will still probably go with an IceCap ballast so that I can switch to T5s later, but that settles it. I'll probably do two 14k bulbs and two true actnic bulbs.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8273553#post8273553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by D Ro Supafly
No, there is no way that these alone would take care of my tank. They'll supplement five 96 watt PC bulbs (50/50) and two 175 watt MH lights.
Click to expand...

I would strongly recommend ditching the PC bulbs altogether. You're talking almost 500w of lighting there, which I believe is completely unnecessary if you're going to run MH and T5s.

Take a closer look at what I'm running on my tank. T5s ONLY for 85% of my photoperiod. That's just 4 bulbs over a 72x30 tank, and 27" deep. MHs are on for <2 hours each day, and for the past few months I've only been running one up high over the center of the tank for the shimmer effect. By most standard "rules of thumb", this is a crazy low amount of light for a tank this size. Don't underestimate the amount of light that T5s can provide.

Chris is right about one thing, the T5 actinics do not flouresce like a good VHO actinic. I stick with aquablue and blue+ bulbs.
 
Well hopefully in a few days,I'll be able to give an answer.I have just ordered T5's to replace my VHO actinics.I honestly didn't care for the VHO actinics when I very first ran them-as they had an almost pink hue to them IMO,then for a few months they looked good.Now I can hardly tell they're on.They are about 10 months old,so need to be replaced & figured I'd give the T5's a shot & see if I like them.They will be driven by an Icecap 660 & I'm using Icecap reflectors.The same question has always bothered me though,how can 54 watts put out the same as 110.I guess a lot could be due to advances in effeciency etc.I like the idea about T5 being able to hopefully last at least a year,use less power to run & less costly to replace.If I get all the wiring done at the weekend,I'll let you know what I think(or will be posting some T5 bulbs/endcaps etc for sale).Good luck with your decision.
 
I'm running 2 UV T'5s and 2 UV VHOs all on the IC 660. The T-5s are under reflectors. The IC 660 is overdriving the T-5s to 80W without loosing their colour spectrum. The other T-5s I had before the UV ones did have their colour spectrum changed by the IC 660. I can only assume that some T-5 lamps do change colour spectrums when they are overdriven.

I find my 4' T-5s to be as bright as my 4' 110W VHOs. Here is a link to my lighting set up to show you.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Ironman88/ActinicT-5.jpg

Cheers
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8276982#post8276982 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 45commando
Well hopefully in a few days,I'll be able to give an answer.I have just ordered T5's to replace my VHO actinics.I honestly didn't care for the VHO actinics when I very first ran them-as they had an almost pink hue to them IMO,then for a few months they looked good.Now I can hardly tell they're on.They are about 10 months old,so need to be replaced & figured I'd give the T5's a shot & see if I like them.They will be driven by an Icecap 660 & I'm using Icecap reflectors.The same question has always bothered me though,how can 54 watts put out the same as 110.I guess a lot could be due to advances in effeciency etc.I like the idea about T5 being able to hopefully last at least a year,use less power to run & less costly to replace.If I get all the wiring done at the weekend,I'll let you know what I think(or will be posting some T5 bulbs/endcaps etc for sale).Good luck with your decision.
Click to expand...

What bulbs where you using (brand & color)?
 
I think with the bulb selections they have these days, I would like to see a side by side comparison of the vho actinics vs t5s. I personally have uvl super actinics t5's and they really make my colors stand out. Ive been very impressed with what t5's can do, just experiment with the different bulb combinations
 
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