PAR Results HQI vs T5
- Thread starter PCIALF
- Start date
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
1) it's Tom @ TRS
2) John is PCIALF- the fella that started this thread
I've seen all the aquariums involved (they're mint) but I'd rather have Tom and John comment on their switch to T5's in this thread.
2) John is PCIALF- the fella that started this thread
I've seen all the aquariums involved (they're mint) but I'd rather have Tom and John comment on their switch to T5's in this thread.
ming81
New member
I'll chime in since I have T5's only, although I never had MH so I can't comment on that.
Pictures speak louder then words, so below is my 75 gallon with 6 bulb T5 bulbs on an IceCap Retrofit.
10/15/2006
3/25/2008
You can see how much that green milli and blue stag grew on the top left. Also, the nepthea and green polyp sacro grew a good amount. (Green Polyp Toadstool is from Gary M from a buffalo swap at Steve Helinski's place. It was a nickel size originally)
I should also add I've fragged countless times for frag swaps since.
Pictures speak louder then words, so below is my 75 gallon with 6 bulb T5 bulbs on an IceCap Retrofit.
10/15/2006
3/25/2008
You can see how much that green milli and blue stag grew on the top left. Also, the nepthea and green polyp sacro grew a good amount. (Green Polyp Toadstool is from Gary M from a buffalo swap at Steve Helinski's place. It was a nickel size originally)
I should also add I've fragged countless times for frag swaps since.
OK A FEW QUESTIONS.
I’m somewhat new to reefs. I have 16g nano, now I know that I only have about 2.75w per G, I need to upgrade my lights if I want to get into SPS or LPS. (Right now I have very low light corals)
My questions are what is PAR?
And how did john get his light measurements? (Numbers on the photo?
I’m somewhat new to reefs. I have 16g nano, now I know that I only have about 2.75w per G, I need to upgrade my lights if I want to get into SPS or LPS. (Right now I have very low light corals)
My questions are what is PAR?
And how did john get his light measurements? (Numbers on the photo?
Tang Salad
Algae skeptic
ming81-That's a beautiful tank! Great job.
The photo from the 1st page here has been linked in capn_hylinur's excellent thread and that brought me here. I'd just like to point out that PCIALF's intent, as he stated, was not an across-the-board T5/MH Par comparison. It was a comparison of his specific setups.
The T5 unit he uses is excellent
, but the Coralife MH unit he had (and I've had several) has terrible reflectors and had 1/3 its light coming from PCs. Again, I don't think he was aiming for an unbiased T5/MH comparison.
It would be great to see it done with top-o-the-line MH reflectors/ballasts and the same for T5s and use PCIALF's awesome graphic overlay to show the results.
For the record, I use and love MH and T5 equally. They're like my children; how could I play favorites? :lol:
The photo from the 1st page here has been linked in capn_hylinur's excellent thread and that brought me here. I'd just like to point out that PCIALF's intent, as he stated, was not an across-the-board T5/MH Par comparison. It was a comparison of his specific setups.
The T5 unit he uses is excellent
, but the Coralife MH unit he had (and I've had several) has terrible reflectors and had 1/3 its light coming from PCs. Again, I don't think he was aiming for an unbiased T5/MH comparison.It would be great to see it done with top-o-the-line MH reflectors/ballasts and the same for T5s and use PCIALF's awesome graphic overlay to show the results.
For the record, I use and love MH and T5 equally. They're like my children; how could I play favorites? :lol:
Tang Salad
Algae skeptic
:lol: I just realized what forum this is in. Sorry guys. :lol:
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
those with relevent intelligent discussion are always welcome here
Henry Colf
New member
John, do you have any updates to share ? How is the growth rate of the corals ? Any issues at all with the T-5's like heat or anything else ?
PCIALF
Active member
no offense but I have not posted here much since this thread because the way people acted, you would not believe some of the PM's I received I was shocked because people are different behind a keyboard but need to remember they are talking to real people here and should act as if they were standing in front of them, thats OK though people showed me what they really were about.
As far as the update my coral has never had more color, growing as much and fast as it is and oh yea my chiller has not came on once
I may be selling it
Underwaterparadise
New member
Don't sweat it! This hobby has many many ways of being succesful, some people just can't get over the "my way or the highway attitude" I thought your post was very informative. No one said this was set in stone, just a little data to ponder!
Keep up the good work!
Peace
Rob
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12162338#post12162338 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PCIALF
Yes the results are posted I believe on page 2 in green numbers
as far as bulbs mine are not overdriven I have been told 12-18 months at around $20 -@24 each
My anemone tells me when to change my bulbs. I have an 8 bulb Nova Extreme with 4 individual reflectors that I installed shortly after I purchased the unit. I run a mixture of quality bulbs. I am at 14 months and it is on the move. As soon as I replace the bulbs, in the next week or two, it will go back to its normal spot half under a rock. So you should get at least 12 if not 18 months out of the T-5s.
there's an article on RC that tests 2 diff brands of t5 light bulbs. in the end there was 30% degradation after 6 or 9 months. i have t-5 now had bulbs for 9 months and coral all of a sudden had color fading could've been water or lights so i started changing the bulbs and did some water changes to see what happens.
witht the old bulbs i took some par readings it was very low like <100 off the sand and 300 near top.
witht the old bulbs i took some par readings it was very low like <100 off the sand and 300 near top.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
apparently there are
apparently there are
many reporting that T5 bulbs don't have a long lifespan.
apparently there are
many reporting that T5 bulbs don't have a long lifespan.
pisces4u
New member
I believe Machado De Sousa in portugal (1500+g coral propagation) replaces his t5's every 6 months. Many of the Zeovit DTOTQ winners run powermodules and replace their bulbs every 6 months. Phil at ARC informed me that the spectrum and output starts to noticeably decline after 4 months.
I've only had my system up 6 months total and replaced the current bulbs within the first month so most of my bulbs are 5 months old. I haven't had any signs of decline yet. Growth is speeding along and no algae outbreaks. I'm only running 6 hours of full light and 12 hours actinic though.
I've only had my system up 6 months total and replaced the current bulbs within the first month so most of my bulbs are 5 months old. I haven't had any signs of decline yet. Growth is speeding along and no algae outbreaks. I'm only running 6 hours of full light and 12 hours actinic though.
belgian_waffleman
New member
First of, Thanks John for this thread. It really help me out and my corals show good coloration and growth without the temperature spikes.
As far life-span goes, my bulbs are now 16 months old and nuisance algae is starting to appear. So it's definitely time to replace them.
Life-span can easily be extended by proper cooling of the bulbs. I have 2 4" fans in my canopy.
Waffleman
As far life-span goes, my bulbs are now 16 months old and nuisance algae is starting to appear. So it's definitely time to replace them.
Life-span can easily be extended by proper cooling of the bulbs. I have 2 4" fans in my canopy.
Waffleman
10001110101
New member
You have 432w T5, but you only had 300w MH, you don't mention what MH bulb/ballast combo you have, if you were running XM 20k's on an electronic ballast you wouldn't have anything for PAR, but if you're running 10k's on an HQI the PAR numbers would be 4-5x higher.
Everyone gets all excited about T5's, there is nothing special about them, they are good, high output lights, and the skinny bulbs make for great reflector design.
A better comparison would have been 6x54w vs. 2x150w, also those PC actinics are probably doing jack for PAR...
I'm all for T5's, but your experimental methods are really biased.
Also it's gonna cost you almost $200 to replace all of those 8 T5 bulbs... nobody talks about this, and this is my big problem with T5's, you gotta have at least a 6 bulb, preferably 8 bulb set up to compete with MH, but at that point you are talking about a lot of really expensive bulbs, and to really get these great par numbers, you have to have a high end fixture like a TEK or ATI Sunpower, which aren't cheap, unless you do retros. But for MH there are always pendants.
Everyone gets all excited about T5's, there is nothing special about them, they are good, high output lights, and the skinny bulbs make for great reflector design.
A better comparison would have been 6x54w vs. 2x150w, also those PC actinics are probably doing jack for PAR...
I'm all for T5's, but your experimental methods are really biased.
Also it's gonna cost you almost $200 to replace all of those 8 T5 bulbs... nobody talks about this, and this is my big problem with T5's, you gotta have at least a 6 bulb, preferably 8 bulb set up to compete with MH, but at that point you are talking about a lot of really expensive bulbs, and to really get these great par numbers, you have to have a high end fixture like a TEK or ATI Sunpower, which aren't cheap, unless you do retros. But for MH there are always pendants.
becon776
New member
John, I am glad somebody took the time to start this discussion. I have the old school MH bulbs am on a teacher's budget. while my coral is doing well, I like others am always enthralled by new "stuff" hahaha. I am sure if you had no job and bill gates bankroll then you would have done a perfect double blind study ( I would). I am on the fence about these things just because I got caught up in the PC revolution like six years ago and it was a nightmare I ended up with more algae than a sushi shop. follow me: I bit the HDTV bug when it first came out so now I have a 1080p floor model Projection TV. a year later LCD and Plasma blew up and I was fairly annoyed. I am just thinking about LED systems and the T5's and whether this is the time to jump.
