Opinions on changing my frag system lighting?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12203219#post12203219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 0 Agios
MH produce less heat than T5, thats a proven fact. T5 distribute the heat better, where with a MH the heat is concentrated in a small spot, that gives you the illusion of T5 being a cooler light bulb. Another isue is light penetration, with MH theres more light reflected from rocks than T5. In some cases where the canopy is too close to the water, T5 are the best solution, like ghstriders tank, but where you can afford to plase a MH higher than 7" go with MH. A cheap bulb like reeflux will result in more heat and less light, where a good bulb like Iwasaki 15k, or Ushio 14k, or AB will result in more light and less heat :D
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LOL I am not running out ot buy everything tomorrow, just talking here.

Okay well I didn't know that it was a proven fact that t5's produce more heat then metal halides. All I know is that when I turn on my 8 bulb tek fixture with no fans or chiller my temperature goes up .4 degrees. While when I turn on 1 metal halide 12k reeflux 250w with a 10" fan blowing on the bulb my temp goes up .5 degrees. This isn't the MH vs. T5 thread though.

Okay well an Iwasaki bulb is only made for the 175w bulb that produces the sick PAR. So that means I would have to change out the bulbs $400, ballast $400, and add 2 reflectors $220...Now I have a higher elcetricity bill, less PAR because one tank runs a 10k xm which is much much more par then the Iwasaki...

Thanks again everyone for the help and ideas.

-Matthew


Oh and I also considered a light mover with one 250w metal halide...?
 
with a light mover...you're going to have to move the shelf up, or the light down...unless it's paper thin which i doubt.
 
alright...i just measured...from water surface to bottom of the light is 8"...and then to the shelf i have it hanging on is 12". and have awesome spread accross the tank. aka. it is possible with 1 mh. just not with the reflectors you have which basically force the light straight down. find a reflector that would work better for u.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12203219#post12203219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 0 Agios
MH produce less heat than T5, thats a proven fact. T5 distribute the heat better, where with a MH the heat is concentrated in a small spot, that gives you the illusion of T5 being a cooler light bulb. Another isue is light penetration, with MH theres more light reflected from rocks than T5. In some cases where the canopy is too close to the water, T5 are the best solution, like ghstriders tank, but where you can afford to plase a MH higher than 7" go with MH. A cheap bulb like reeflux will result in more heat and less light, where a good bulb like Iwasaki 15k, or Ushio 14k, or AB will result in more light and less heat :D
Click to expand...

Can you please give me your links to where these facts have been proven?
Everywhere I look on the web and at various lighting websites it seems they all say that T5 are more efficient and (therefor) less heat than MH.
Unfortunately I can only find a small piece of the total information here and there.
No place has a comprehensive set of stats that definitively prove or disprove either side of the debate.
I'd really like to see the facts on a real comparison between MH and T5s once and for all.
 
im not saying they're hotter or not...but i've accidently touched one of my reflectors on my t5's and i've got a scar from it. they do get hot. but theoretically there's more surface area therefor when air passes accross the bulb and reflector it would take away more heat. so i could believe that t5's are "hotter" than mh's. you put one fan blowing accross 1 mh vs. 1 fan and 1 t5 and the fan would take more heat away from the t5 than the mh since theres more area to remove heat. but then again mh's are HOT! I can say though that since i switched from the t5's to the mh's my room is hotter. but i also added a chiller into the mix which creates a ton of heat.

ever since switching to mh's i'm a fan of them and probably won't switch back. more heat...but i've got MUCH nicer colors!
 
Matt,

I'm sad to hear that you're considering switching.. You should stick the two halides over your display and put that tek fixture over your frag tanks :p

I've used T5s and seen lots of T5 tanks, but I would never switch from halides unless there was a REALLY good reason to do so (like facts and figures showing that T5s really do use significantly less power and put out significantly more light), and even then, I'm still in love with my halides. The colors I get from it are really great and it looks more like the real ocean with 2 10ks than any T5 tank (even though I know you can configure the bulbs any way on T5s).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12204452#post12204452 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 0 Agios
Theres many loyalrogue, heres one from the department of energy http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/energyEfficiency_oct25_06.pdf
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, Steve.
It was an interesting read on white LEDs, which I definitely believe are the way of the future.
And unless I missed something, it was also interesting that the Dept of Energy confirms that T5 are more efficient (by up to 10%) and therefor produce less heat than MH.
(which pretty much matches everything else I've found on lighting mfg websites and other MH vs T5 discussions on the web.)

Although it would have been nice if they had gone into more depth about specifically T5 versus MH instead of just a small chart on typical luminous efficacy of linear fluorescent (50-100 lm/W) compared to MH (50-90 im/W).

Do you have any more links that are more specific about MH and T5?
I really liked the comparision site on different ballasts and bulbs for MH.
Is there a site like that for T5 and VHO ballast and bulbs?
 
Now we see some bullbs that are very efficient USHIO 0.37 and of course the infamus coral view reeflux that everyone is crazy about with an efficiency of 0.17 . Now comparing a t5 to a reeflux, yes maybe you got something there, maybe the t5 is better than a reeflux, but compare it to an AB or USHIO or Iwasaki........... the chart speaks for itself. Mistake #1 people focuse more on getting an expensive ballast. Where the focus should be on the light bulb. Actually a magnetic ballast is better than the electronic, bullb will last longer, 0% change in efficiancy compared to a up to 20% change on electronic ballasts. I will search and try to find you more on t5. Now keep in mind that things change fast. Example, I am doing a retrofit for UPS cargo at the airport, and UPS desided to send Grainger to all their 2000 locations to check lighting. They have a new T8 VHO that is more efficient than t5. Its a crazy world when it comes to lighting, T5, T6, T8, T12, VHO, HO, Mercury Vapor, Metal Halide, High Intencity Discharge...........one can easily get confused. My final conclusion Magnetic Ballast $ 10 on ebay, and $ 100 for a good MH bulb, $ 10 for a good reflector. Less than $ 150 and you got yourself a light that people will be jealous of :D
 
Group buy for reflux, yes save $ 40 get 1/2 the light and pay the same for electricity, and also have 50% more heat. Those bulbs should only be used as aquarium heaters :D
 
I love the 175w iwasaki 15k.
put up a post on reef central and try to sell/trade your ballasts. you would be surprised how many poeple are moving up and down on ballast choises. I traded my 250E ballast for 250w PFO then traded for my 400/W E to my last one which was 400w pfo.
Also I have 1 lumenarc with a/c feature left sitting in house if you want to try it out. email me if you want it.
 
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