freddie40
New member
I wanted to share with you my extensive experience with T5 lamps. Maybe this will help a few people and a few animals. If you'd like to skip the background section skip down to the testing part.
Background
I started out with T5 bulbs about 6 years ago. I first added 1 D&D Blue Plus and 1 Sun bulb with TEK reflectors and a Triad ballast to 4 VHO bulbs. About a year later I switched 2 of the VHO bulbs to 2 more T5 bulbs with TEK reflectors. Another year later I did the same, so I had 6 48" T5 bulbs with TEK reflectors over a 75 gallon tank. 4 were on a Icecap 660 ballast and 2 were on a Triad. My corals were doing good. Over the next 2 years I switched the reflectors to Aquatinic and I switch the 2 on a Triad to a Icecao 660. About 2 years ago I realized that I had too much par so I switched 2 of the bulbs to VHO and then eventually to 2 of the new Icecap Moonlights.
Here is where I really started to notice a problem with my corals. When I first put in new bulbs the LPS corals would be unhappy. After about 2 months the looked good. Within about 6 months the LPS corals looked good, but the SPS did not. I would switch at about that time and the cycle would repeat.
The Test
Starting last year I really notice that the par was visibly low after a few months. So I finally decided to do something about it. I had a Icecap 4 bulb retrofit, 4 new Icecap bulbs and a brand new Icecap 660 ballast. I use the same spot (about 2/3 of the way down) to measure every week. At the beginning I started out with a par of about 250. I measured every week and at about 2 months the par suddenly dropped 30%. This was visible to the naked eye. I was mad. I decided that I need to try different bulbs. SO I put in 4 UVL bulbs. The par was about the same at the beginning and once again the par dropped by 30% at 2 months. I know that Icecap and UVL bulbs are both made by UVL so for the 3rd test. FOr the 3rd test I got some of the new ATI bulbs: 2 of the Blue Plus and 2 of the Purple plus. I installed them and tested the par and it was an astonishing 360. No kidding, it was bright. I ran it thugs way for about 1.5 months and the par stayed exactly the same. At this point I added some pretty cool LPS corals and they immediately started doing poorly. The first thing I did was to switch the front 2 reflectors to TEK. This helped a little bit. I decided that I must do something different to keep my corals alive and maybe make the bulbs last longer. I dumped the Icecap 660 and put 2 brand new Triad ballasts in. This was last week. The par is 260
I kept the 2 aquatinic refectories in the back and 2 TEK reflectors in the front. My LPS corals look better.
BTW: I was using 2 icecap 4" fans for cooling 24 hours per day, one on each side of the back of my canopy blowing in.
Conclusion
I am not here to bast Icecap for shortening the life of my bulbs. Either the bulbs were bad (UVL) or it is the Icecap 660. My real conclusion is that if you have a tank 24" or less do yourself a favor and dump that Icecap 660 and get Triad ballasts. You will appreciate it and I am sure your corals will too. Better par (in terms of range for coral growth) and I am assuming better bulb life, plus they run cooler and use less electricity.
If you have and questions or comments please post and I will try and answer them.
Dave
Background
I started out with T5 bulbs about 6 years ago. I first added 1 D&D Blue Plus and 1 Sun bulb with TEK reflectors and a Triad ballast to 4 VHO bulbs. About a year later I switched 2 of the VHO bulbs to 2 more T5 bulbs with TEK reflectors. Another year later I did the same, so I had 6 48" T5 bulbs with TEK reflectors over a 75 gallon tank. 4 were on a Icecap 660 ballast and 2 were on a Triad. My corals were doing good. Over the next 2 years I switched the reflectors to Aquatinic and I switch the 2 on a Triad to a Icecao 660. About 2 years ago I realized that I had too much par so I switched 2 of the bulbs to VHO and then eventually to 2 of the new Icecap Moonlights.
Here is where I really started to notice a problem with my corals. When I first put in new bulbs the LPS corals would be unhappy. After about 2 months the looked good. Within about 6 months the LPS corals looked good, but the SPS did not. I would switch at about that time and the cycle would repeat.
The Test
Starting last year I really notice that the par was visibly low after a few months. So I finally decided to do something about it. I had a Icecap 4 bulb retrofit, 4 new Icecap bulbs and a brand new Icecap 660 ballast. I use the same spot (about 2/3 of the way down) to measure every week. At the beginning I started out with a par of about 250. I measured every week and at about 2 months the par suddenly dropped 30%. This was visible to the naked eye. I was mad. I decided that I need to try different bulbs. SO I put in 4 UVL bulbs. The par was about the same at the beginning and once again the par dropped by 30% at 2 months. I know that Icecap and UVL bulbs are both made by UVL so for the 3rd test. FOr the 3rd test I got some of the new ATI bulbs: 2 of the Blue Plus and 2 of the Purple plus. I installed them and tested the par and it was an astonishing 360. No kidding, it was bright. I ran it thugs way for about 1.5 months and the par stayed exactly the same. At this point I added some pretty cool LPS corals and they immediately started doing poorly. The first thing I did was to switch the front 2 reflectors to TEK. This helped a little bit. I decided that I must do something different to keep my corals alive and maybe make the bulbs last longer. I dumped the Icecap 660 and put 2 brand new Triad ballasts in. This was last week. The par is 260
I kept the 2 aquatinic refectories in the back and 2 TEK reflectors in the front. My LPS corals look better.BTW: I was using 2 icecap 4" fans for cooling 24 hours per day, one on each side of the back of my canopy blowing in.
Conclusion
I am not here to bast Icecap for shortening the life of my bulbs. Either the bulbs were bad (UVL) or it is the Icecap 660. My real conclusion is that if you have a tank 24" or less do yourself a favor and dump that Icecap 660 and get Triad ballasts. You will appreciate it and I am sure your corals will too. Better par (in terms of range for coral growth) and I am assuming better bulb life, plus they run cooler and use less electricity.
If you have and questions or comments please post and I will try and answer them.
Dave
