T5 Lighting

[bcobra]

Well after redoing the 120 I decided to reset-up my 40gal breeder. I am thinking about running with T5 lighting. The system has an icecap 660 with 4 95watt VHOs on it now. The T5 lighting will have to be retro fit as I have checked out one of the 36" fixtures but it will not fit under my hood. I have about 12" from water surface to sand and the bulbs will be another 8" off the water. Want to mix a few LPS's and SPS's. A few questions will 4 over driven T5's on the icecap work? What would be the best bulb selection if using 4? Is their a big difference in using a single reflector for all the bulbs or individual reflectors? TIA

 

[DaddyJax]

Definately do the individual reflectors. This is the biggest reason for T5 success. I think that will be plenty of light for a 40g breeder.

 

[robthorn]

hey bcobra I run all t5's on my current system . on yours for what you want to do one day light bulb on a real t5 ballast would be enough to keep things alive. anymore would be extra. if you like blue I would go 1 daylight 2 blue and 1 actinic. to me this might be the perfect balance because I like a 20k look. this is what you should get close to with this set up. you can change it anyway you want. I was running my 31 inch deep tank with my best growing acro's near the bottom. I had 1 11k, 1 blue and 2 actinics. I have since added 1 more 11k and 1 more blue. I have not noticed anything better since adding them. I will more than likely go back to just the 4 when these are used up. using indivdual ice cap reflectors in my opinion are a must. I have huge ricordea's on the bottom with really nice color and acro's at the top , middle and bottom.
you can come check it out if you want
ice caps will decrease the life of the bulbs drastically in my opinion. 4 1/2 months is what I got. I changed to the right ballasts and so far so good. the right ones are cheaper anyway. on a 40 I would think you could do 1 11k and one blue bulb no actinic and be done. keep your water clear and all should be good.

 

[BillyFSU]

What ballast are you using Rob?

 

[robthorn]

advance icn-2s54 . 54 is watts per bulb so 2s39 would be 2 3 ft bulbs. $45 retail or there abouts. look for program rapid start not instant start.

 

[bcobra]

Thanks for the info Rob. I did read in one of your post about the icecap only giving you 4 1/2 months of life. While reading on a site some where it says that the icecap will decrease the life to about 12 months. I have the icecap so I thought I would try the T5's to see if I like the look. When I had the tank set-up before I ran a 250 MH with PC actinics and liked the look. I like the blue look but not as blue as the 20k. What do you think about 2 11ks 1 actinic and 1 blue? Or do you think thats to much for a 40? I have no idea of the output of these bulbs.

 

[robthorn]

I think if you like a whiter look that will be great. I don't know what brand bulbs you plan to get but I am using geisemann which are ok but seem to be shifting pink already. I got the ati the first time I bought them and then they went to geisemann. I think reefgeek has the new ATI bulbs and a good track record for shipping bulbs. price isn't too bad there either. I think the blue bulbs are the aquablue specials. I also think they claim there day bulbs are 12k instead of 11k but who knows. they got a new manufacturer and claims are they are better. when coralvue came out they had alot of bad bulbs and now everyone is claiming great success with their halides. they also sell t5's but I have never seen them. the coralvue's are cheap compared to the ati or geisemann. I am going to try most likely ati but no longer ruling out coralvue. ichthy has geisemann and I am trying to talk finz into some kind of t5's and they will eventually get some but they are pretty busy remodeling and stuff so later on they will have something in stock I am sure. marine warehouse carries current nova but i am not sure of the quality of that stuff. I did see a 55 lit with the current and it looked pretty good.
definately let me know what you end up with and the bulbs will be alot whiter after a couple weeks just like halides.

 

[bcobra]

Thanks Rob for that bit of info on the geisemann bulbs. I was looking into getting some of those. How long have you been running those? Well at this point I am not sure which bulbs i will go with now. Guess I will look around and let you know what i come up with.

 

[bcobra]

Rob have you seen or heard anything about the URI bulbs? I did find a place that carries the coralvue bulbs at a real good price. They also carry the uri's at a good price.

 

[Bono]

Sorry to jump in here but maybe you guys can answer my question. Do the T-5's give a shimmer look like MH's or are they more like PC's or VHO's?

 

[oceana]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7973081#post7973081 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scubby
Sorry to jump in here but maybe you guys can answer my question. Do the T-5's give a shimmer look like MH's or are they more like PC's or VHO's?

no they do not. i dont think i have seen any bulb other then MH or LED do that.

 

[robthorn]

a flash light point down into the water will give you shimmer but t5's do not.
the uri bulbs are the same very pink bulbs as the vho. never ever liked uri. I did like the uri actinics but I hear they aren't as good as their vho actinics. never seen them in person yet.