T-5 vs Metal halides

[abigdog1976]

We currently have 3 400w xms and 2 140 vho on our 175 bow front with a depth of 30 inches. Any thoughts on T-5's reaching this far down and providing enough light for our Echinos, Acros, and c. clams.

What would the recommended watt conversion be from MH to T5's?

 

[ROB2005]

no unfortunately for that depth you have there and the type of livestock that is resting there....400W metal halides are able to provide sufficient light to reach down there...since t5 is flourescent its light is spread out evenly, but is unable to penetrate such depth to allow sufficient light to reach your livestock.....you would be better off with metal halide....my two cents

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7483408#post7483408 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ROB2005
no unfortunately for that depth you have there and the type of livestock that is resting there....400W metal halides are able to provide sufficient light to reach down there...since t5 is flourescent its light is spread out evenly, but is unable to penetrate such depth to allow sufficient light to reach your livestock.....you would be better off with metal halide....my two cents

T5 most certainly can penetrate to 30" if you use Icecap ballasts. This will overdrive the bulbs and they will penetrate very well. However, the T5s arent going to be quite as much as that 400w XM 10 though. Those bulbs put down a ton of PAR. I dont think there is any T5 setup that can match that....

How wide/long is your tank?

 

[Wryknow]

I would recommend a total of 12 of the 3' (39W) bulbs (which would require 3 ICECAP 660 ballasts) on a 6' tank. The total power dram would be aroun 700W I believe because the ICECAPS over-drive the 39W bulbs by about 50%. In my experience they penetrate light in my 29" deep tank quite well.

With SLRs that should be ample light for anything that you want to keep IMHO as long as you use a decent mix of the high-PAR 6.5K bulbs. You've got a ton of light on your existing system but I suspect that your power bill must be through the roof!

 

[abigdog1976]

yes thank god for the monthly budget option

 

[abigdog1976]

horace,
the tank is 6 ft long. Can i expect the same growth and look of the 20k (if i mix and match correctly) with the t-5s?

 

[abigdog1976]

what is SLR and if you are overridding the bulb, how much does it decrease the life of the bulb?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

If you have all those critters on the sand I would be a little nervous about using T5's at 30". If you have them in the upper half of the tank you would be good. Aquactinics makes a 7 row 72" T5 fixture (14 39 watt lamps) that might do the trick if Tom would upgrade it to Ice Cap ballasts for you.

 

[Horace]

Like Grim said, 30" is pretty deep for any light system to reach. The best T5 setup will compete with and beat many 250w MH, but they arent going to hold up to 400w unless you use low kelvin 400w like an XM 20k.

Grims recommendation is a good one....the short bulbs will overdrive more than the longer ones and put out a TON of light for a T5. I would say you would want to replace those bulbs atleast every year.

 

[zapata41]

i would stick with the MH, the t5s arent gonna give you the color you are used to nor will you get the growth or shimmer lines. so just stick with what you have. if you are looking to lower the power bill then look into running 2 400w halides in lumenarcs reflectors, i run them over my 180 and am very happy.

Tim

 

[Serioussnaps]

What Zapata said, basically, if it aint broke dont fix it.

...powerbill, heat etc... dont know why you would maybe these issues?