Switching from mh to t5 u think be beneficial for sps?

[BrentH]

I'm running 6 radium 3 400 3 250 on a 500 gallon I've always admired tanks and the way t5 look exp... Ati my question is u guys think it would be a wate of time or not be better? Also my electric bill is crazy I'm curious if the t5 would help that as well ....I basically asking if it would be pointless or a noticeable better change?

 

[Guygettnby]

Why not look in to LED's? Would help your electric bill and save on the cost of bulb replacement.

On the other hand, if that was the way you wanted to go, I love a MH/T5 combo. Gives the best of both worlds IMHO. I did however make the switch to LED's and am happy I did.

 

[BrentH]

ive tried led but didn't really care for them as far as color on my sps

 

[BrentH]

But my Edison bill is 1500 a month I do have a lot of tanks but still it hurts Im not really asking or trying to get my bill lower just wondering if it would be a perk with switching to t5 a lot of tanks that I admire are t5

 

[cugly]

I think they both look great you should do the ati hybrid..the color combinations makes a big difference with the looks..

 

[kevin_e]

I'm not sure you would save money and I doubt your coral would do *better* under T5 compared to 1800 watts of halide.

What are your dimensions? Sounds like you would need a lot of tubes.

 

[billyzbear]

I have had them all. I liked mh, I did have a problem finding the right one for the color I like. I added t5 to supplement. 400w mh was getting costly. Setup new tank with all t5, eight bulbs. Loved it. You can mix and match colors to really dial it in. When leds came out, I really liked the royal blue color. I switched half of the t5's out and went with 50/50 t5 and RB leds. It looked good. I was happy but the leds could not compete with the t5's. You need to have reflectors or optics for leds. I switched to some more leds and only two t5's about a year ago. Not digging it. Next week I'm going with 5 rows of RB and NW leds, their on c channels and 4 t5 bulbs.
You did not mention why you have 3 400w and 3 250w.
If you are planning on keeping sps with t5 you'll need 6-10 bulbs. If you have a 6ft tank then use the 5ft bulbs.

 

[jackson6745]

The only way I would think the switch from halide to t5 would benefit the tank is if there is dense coral growth and a lot of shadowing. Nothing penetrates dense coral growth like t5.
But you would need a load of t5 over a 500g. Not sure how efficient that will be. As for
LED, you'll need a ton of t5's anyway to eliminate shadows. Not worth it.

 

[BrentH]

My tanks 8 feet long 4 foot wide and 2' high so I would need 3 or 4 48" 8 bulb units ..... I have the 400 watters in the front and the 250's towards the back were there not enough lights dobro the tank being so wide might be a bit over kill. BIt my tanks lit well

 

[billyzbear]

8 bulbs for 2ft wide is good. You would need atleast 6. They don't have to be 4ft long, 3 feet long will work. The ATI fixtures are nice. You see t5 units around a lot. The growers use them and a lot of reefers are selling them to get leds. Each bulb must have it's own reflector and you want the end caps to be sealed. If you have a canopy you can get retros, which is the ballast, sealed end caps and reflectors. Just mount end caps inside and wire them up. A cheaper route than fixtures. You can buy the pieces seperately.
The very best thing about t5 is you can change a bulb to get the color you want. Less heat and electic then mh. But you need to change more bulbs.
That's the reason I switched to leds but now it's going to be half and half.
Where in socal are you?
Sounds like a massive tank, pics?
You must have some shaded areas with only 3 mh across 8 ft.

 

[billyzbear]

Sorry, to answer your question right. You would need 6-8 bulbs per 2 feet wide so four units either 3 feet long or 4.

 

[BrentH]

I have 6 mh bulbs on the setup not much shade .... Thanks for your reply in very tempted to do it my tanks doing well but I do torch some corals sometimes it seems like and yes I have a canopy kinda tanks built into wall and a room divider but the tops covered in in Covina

 

[BrentH]

I post pics when lights come on tomorrow

 

[Moser]

My tank is 6ftx8ftx3ft.

I was running Giesemann Spectra 6ft units. 9x400W Radiums. 12x80W Blue T5.

I switched to 4x4ft and 2x3ft ATI Hybrids.
My electricity bill has dropped to half. Tank temp from 26.4C to 25.2C.

The PAR is way higher- believe it or not, I bleached my lps on the sandbed with 50:50 blue + and coral+.

I was told I couldn't run t5 on a 36" tall tank... WRONG!.

I am running the led on rb/b at 30% and T5 at 80%!.

I am slowly changing out the coral plus to actinic to reduce the par and increase the pop!.
I will slowly ramp back up to 100% t5.

The ATI Hybrid is a par monster!!. You can't go wrong with it!.

Mo

 

[ZON]

my tank is 6ftx8ftx3ft.

I was running giesemann spectra 6ft units. 9x400w radiums. 12x80w blue t5.

I switched to 4x4ft and 2x3ft ati hybrids.
My electricity bill has dropped to half. Tank temp from 26.4c to 25.2c.

The par is way higher- believe it or not, i bleached my lps on the sandbed with 50:50 blue + and coral+.

I was told i couldn't run t5 on a 36" tall tank... Wrong!.

I am running the led on rb/b at 30% and t5 at 80%!.

I am slowly changing out the coral plus to actinic to reduce the par and increase the pop!.
I will slowly ramp back up to 100% t5.

The ati hybrid is a par monster!!. You can't go wrong with it!.

Mo

+1 ...

 

[toothman]

so halides about 2000 watts-12 cents kw-25 cents/hr. 6 hrs a day= $45 a month for halides. + your other bulbs. possibly chiller cost, in my tank it doesn't run in winter and barely in summer.

 

[billyzbear]

I got it now. Do you like the 250w? You could keep them in the middle and have t5 along the sides. Doesn't really make since to keep 400w as they use alot of electricity.
The ati hybrid cost alot. The program that comes with them looks really cool.
Kessils with t5's would be a good alternative.

 

[kevin_e]

Nothing penetrates dense coral growth like t5.

Is that true?

 

[BrentH]

My tank is 6ftx8ftx3ft.

I was running Giesemann Spectra 6ft units. 9x400W Radiums. 12x80W Blue T5.

I switched to 4x4ft and 2x3ft ATI Hybrids.
My electricity bill has dropped to half. Tank temp from 26.4C to 25.2C.

The PAR is way higher- believe it or not, I bleached my lps on the sandbed with 50:50 blue + and coral+.

I was told I couldn't run t5 on a 36" tall tank... WRONG!.

I am running the led on rb/b at 30% and T5 at 80%!.

I am slowly changing out the coral plus to actinic to reduce the par and increase the pop!.
I will slowly ramp back up to 100% t5.

The ATI Hybrid is a par monster!!. You can't go wrong with it!.

Mo

thanks for the replys
so your running 6 ati fixtures 4 48' and 2 36'ati hybrids? damn im so tempted i mean my tanks doing great but i do have some corals with shaded areas were its turned white on the underneath side and your power bill went to half hmmm?

mo can i get a pic for a visual on your lighting? when u get a chance i was figureing i needed 4x48" ran front to back suspended curious how u have yours set up

 

[BrentH]

Also u have the unit with built in timers ect are they user friendly?