Switch to T5s??

C

cmjreef

In Memoriam
I've put this question to several friends already. Most look at me hesitantly and cant get off the fence. Should I or shouldn't I? I run (2) 14K Phoenix HQIs and (2) 130 W actinic PCs now. I plan to run (6) 48" T5s. This is a 90 gallon tank btw.
 
First it depends on what you want to keep. You can keep just about anything under T5's with proper placement, but if you're heavy into SPS's then it wouldn't be the best choice. I have 4 (VHO's) and 2 (T5's) and my corals are doing very good. None of my corals are high light demanding - at this point.
 
You also need to take into account that if you are keeping sps's you will need to replace the t5 bulbs about every 4-5 months.
 
What were your reasons for wanting to switch?

I don't know if this helps you but on my 40 breeder I have a 150w 10k halide and 2 39w T5s (one 22k "actinic plus" and one "Super Actinic") I kept the shimmer and got much richer colors than just a phoenix 14k.
 
All my corals are thriving and growing like crazy under my T5 system...BTW, lot's of sps, crocea clam, softies, etc, all real happy... My 2 cents....
 
This is just my opinion but I have been reading alot on the MH lamps. If you have true HQI ballasts you have what I believe to be the best setups and I have been seriously considering switching to HQI 14K phoenix to the tune of a lot of money. The HQI lamps ran on true HQI ballasts just last sooo long. Some guys have even run 10K HQI for 3 years. There is this thread that talks all about this and t5's. I will try and find it.
 
This is it. I can't tell you if this is true but I am looking into it. He also gives good info on new t5 fixtures that are coming out.


400WSE in LumenMax or Lumenarc -OR- 2x150WDE Sunpod?
 
oops that did not work as a link. I'm not the best with computers maybe someone can do that for me : )
 
t5's ? well I have t5's and I have had many metal halide setups in the past. I wanted t5's to be cheap. longer bulb life ,less power consumption. the only thing that is true for t5's being better that I have found is less power consumption. I saw a picture of your tank in another thread and it looks great. I would not recommend the change. 10 years you have to know change in a reef tank is normally a bad thing. the t5's do not last any longer. heck in my opinion they don't last as long as metal halide on proper ballasts. ice cap are not proper ballasts by the way. I mean a pulse strat ballast for a pulse start bulb and the same for probe start. useful t5 life on my old ice cap system was 4 1/2 to 5 months and with the proper non ice cap ballasts the life is 5-6 months. those are ati and geisemann bulbs . other bulb lifes may vary. this again is just my experience. I start losing corals when the bulbs need replaced. then I change the bulbs and half dead things recover and death stops. of course metal halides and sps can do the same thing if you don't catch it in time. I have been running 4 4ft t5's and 4 3ft t5's on my 265 with sps at all levels in the tank. colors are ok but not what I had with halides. other things I have done experimenting may be the reason for the colors. everything grows at all levels for the most part.

I would keep what is working for you.
 
Okay that link works, don't ask me what I just did. Thats good info Rob I think i need to talk to you about lighting.
 
i personally love the shimmer of halides myself. thats a small asthetic reason but i like it.
i am due for bulb replacemnts in march. i was thinking along the same lines as robthorn about change.... i thought maybe i will change kelvin and maybe bulb brand ........
then i said this is working well for me why not continue same brand and kelvin and maybe add t5 as actinics . just two and then maybe move up to four t5s
 
Thanks a lot!

Thanks a lot!

This is exactly what I wanted was some good insight. I'll consider all of it. I have begun collecting T5 "stuff" already, but now I'm not sure. Mostly the "Iwan method" thing got me going. The colors are what I'm after, but I do love the shimmer. Maybe I'll try a combination of the 2.
ReefDec-2.jpg
[/IMG]
Here's the tank now.
 
the iwan method huh? well that is the very thing that made my colors what I call bad. I think iwan is very good with a camera. his tank is amazing but I don't think the colors are better than yours. his colors are faded and more pastel . yours are rich and vibrant. you also have alot of smaller colonies so it doesn't seem as impressive and you want to speed the growth. you are possibly looking at alot of trouble trying his method. I have tried polyplabs, zeo and korallin. all of them are ok but the dosing the recommend is way off and too high for a tank like yours. I mean way too high. amino acids are dangerous when overdosed. and cause alot of red slime. trying to obtain iwan status has driven me from the hobby. everything I have is for sale. I would keep doing what you are doing your tank looks great.
 
I think i'll heed all of this advice. I appreciate it immensely. You all know how it is... tweek this, tweek that. I'm looking for the best options and the best colors. What about a combination of the T5s and some retro HQIs. Might i benefit from a switch to 250s and 2 or 3 54W T5s? Good or bad idea? BTW, Rob, are you sure? You want to turn the page? A small sea horse tank, huh? I've heard that before. Just kiddin.
 
well first we are getting jetskis and going to take some weekends and don't want to bug people to mess with our tank. then who knows what else we may do. I don't like paying for the electricity and everything else. I may not even do the seahorses. if you read my posts you will see I change my mind alot. lots of people think I am a bad person for doing so but thats what it's there for.
about the t5's supplement I think it's a good idea and would look awesome. I wouldn't use actinic though. I stopped using them when I got the new ati bulbs. I use 1 actinic plus for every daylight bulb. to me it looks awesome. it has a nice 14-15k look. actinics are way over rated to me. they are very old news. when they came out we were using 6500k and then 10000k came along and when you get higher than that you just don't need it. they made them I think because 6500k makes corals look nasty. look at pictures taken using flash. to me extremely nasty. people say it's what things look like in sunlight. well that's out of water and most reefs stay far under water most of the time. not natural at all to me but again I am different. since most of us don't use bulbs under 10k you just don't need them. if you factor in actinic bulbs use more power than other bulbs it becomes even more of a waste. john at ichthy was going to try and get the ati in stock but I haven't been up that way in a long time. no clue if he got them.
are you running 175watt halides?
how long do your 14k bulbs last?
my favorite bulbs are 250w radiums on pulse start ballasts. best colors I ever had. wish I still had them. no actinic supplementation.
 
FWIW, I switched from a 75G with 2X 150 DE MH plus 2X 96W PC Actinics to 5X 54W 48" normally driven T5's.

I have a mixed reef, clams, anems, SPS, LPS and lots of Zoos. I personally have found the change to be of great benefit. The color spectrum is very nice, and I think the PAR is actually helping my clams color up even further. The MH shimmer is nice, but I have enjoyed the fact of not worrying about cooling the tank as much. If you cant afford to change your bulbs in this hobby, you need to decrease your tank size, or decrease the number of species with high lighting requirements you are keeping.

Long story short, if I were you, I would do it in a heartbeat.

-Josh
 
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