T5 Only SPS reef?

wow this thread really took off. i never thought that my bad picture would jump start this thread. just to answer a few questions it is a TEK liht ficture with 4 t-5s 2 blue + and 2 aquablue 11000k. the picture just doesn't do it any justice as the pink birdsnest is actually a blood red. and the pink millie is almost a neon pink, almost unreal.

I do a few thing that are a no no with a tek light fixture, like i have it in a canopy 4" from the water. but with 2 80mm computer fans on all the time heat has never been an issue. In fact the light is cool to the touch everywhere, and it wasn't like that when it was the only thing on top of the tank. i have no acrylic sheild, but i don't get any salt creep at all with it.

I dose the tank a lot, i go by Melevs philosophy of feed hard skim harder. so thats why i have a ASM g-2 skimmer, and always run a phosban reactor with carbon and phosban. and have a 5 gal fuge that i have to pull cheato from every week.

I have been doseing phytofeast from Reed mariculture, and have seen a boom in pods and other inverts. so i started dosing there roti feast about 8 months ago every 2 days and have notice the insane color from all corals. i then started feeding Reed Maricultures equivalent to golden pearls every other day as well.

Since doing this I have noticed my SPS have amazing colors and my LPS are growing and splitting like mad. I'm not saying i have great husbandry since i havn't done a water change in longer then i care to say but I will say that T-5's are definitely one of the reasons my corals are growing with the colors that they are. so if you are planning a tank and want someihing low power/heat and still get the benefit of being able to have any coral you want. T-5's are perfect for you.

just my thoughts.

Chris

a little wider view, i wont let you see it all as i'm a little embarrassed about just how much coraline algea i have and how hard it is to clean and yada yada yada.

latest073-1.jpg
 
Another advantage that is not apparent right now, but will be here very soon...is that MH prices are going to increase quite a bit due to copper prices going through the roof
Click to expand...

I don't know how much copper is in a MH bulb, but I can tell you copper has gone straight up over the last two years & bulb prices have not gone up. As a matter of fact copper prices have probably topped and are the next commodity to get wacked.
 
PFO had to increase there prices a bit because of the price of metals....but I don't think it will that big of a difference. Besides..you think they dont use copper in T5 ballasts.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8150018#post8150018 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Big E
I don't know how much copper is in a MH bulb, but I can tell you copper has gone straight up over the last two years & bulb prices have not gone up. As a matter of fact copper prices have probably topped and are the next commodity to get wacked.
Click to expand...

I am not talking about the bulbs, but the Halide ballasts...Sorry if I was not clear.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8150335#post8150335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvanacker
PFO had to increase there prices a bit because of the price of metals....but I don't think it will that big of a difference. Besides..you think they dont use copper in T5 ballasts.
Click to expand...
have you looked at a t5 ballast compared to a halide ballast? the size difference is huge...Halide ballasts use at least 4-5 times as much copper as t5's do...
 
If I can help steer this back on topic....

I'm working on setting up a new BIG SPS tank. I was going to go with 400w MH's but now I'm starting to rethink it. I want a wide tank, but it doesn't necessarily have to be deep. What do you think would be the max depth for a T5 tank?
I'm thinking that for a 36" wide tank, T5 might be my better option...
 
There are a couple of guys in the Denver area that have used a par meter and compare the two light sources. With the t5 getting a better par rating and sand level 24" Also they noticed a energy consumption differencewith the T5(6x54) compared to 2x250 MH. It was about 15 dollars a month. Plus because you have 6 or 8 bulbs you can get a better spectrium of light. I am switching to a complete T5 system at christmas time.
 
yes with T-5 you can put many spectrums in to get one coor where with MH you just have a 10k or 14k bulb. so many options they make a lot of sence. but the shimmer from MH is cool.
 
What are the life span on T5 bulbs? If they are anything like VHO's you will be replacing them every 3 to 4 months.
 
Life is a lot better......Danano (MARCH 05 RC TOTM) went 18 or 20 months before changing his bulbs.
 
Yeah, but where are the studies for that? I dont think you can go 3 months on any bulb, let alone 12 -18 without any kind of a spectrum change.
 
What are the life span on T5 bulbs? If they are anything like VHO's you will be replacing them every 3 to 4 months.
Click to expand...

I'm at month 9... Overdriven (660) for my 4 main bulbs; color of corals is still fantastic.

Once I can get some shots sized down, I'll show you how my "supplementation" bulbs grow corals. :bum:

Overall; though, I couldn't be happier. I'll be happy to plug in my light fixture to a kill-a-watt, anc compare power draws for my rig, and the 2x250, plus supplementation you'd need to run similar light on my 72G. I also love the fact that even with the Central Air on or off; I can PICK my temperature; I don't need a chiller. Not all MH tanks do; but most people I know that run them do.. (Including you, by your sig, Dr. JMadscientist)

And I don't skimp on the pumps in the tank; I run a Beckett skimmer, which is more than happy to add heat to the water....

That's really why I went this way; low heat transfer to the tank (Does that make everyone happy?!?!?), lower wattage than MH to grow corals effectively, and longer bulb replacement intervals....

-Andy/Oldimpala
 
There is more to growing coral than bulb out put and heat. The point on the spectrum of the bulbs is that corals will stop growing as fast when the spectrum changes and algae will grow easier. Majority of halide bulbs can go for 10 months before the spectrum shifts drastically. VHO go for about three months before they shift. Being how T5's and VHO are the same type of bulb (same gases and same burn technique), I would imagine that they would be very similar in spectrum shift.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8159982#post8159982 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dr. JMadscientist
There is more to growing coral than bulb out put and heat. The point on the spectrum of the bulbs is that corals will stop growing as fast when the spectrum changes and algae will grow easier. Majority of halide bulbs can go for 10 months before the spectrum shifts drastically. VHO go for about three months before they shift. Being how T5's and VHO are the same type of bulb (same gases and same burn technique), I would imagine that they would be very similar in spectrum shift.
Click to expand...

:confused:
 
There has been par test on T5 around denver and they also had a way to test spectrum. There test showed nothing til around the 11th month and they were also overdriving them. T5 and VHO share some tech. but T5 are newer and have far better tech. Iwan said he changed his bulbs every 10 months and his gorth was very impressive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Hydrogen Peroxide Dip Killed a lot of my frags!... Different strength okay?
Replies
4
Views
279
BlueOcean168
B
monkeysee1
Tahitian Butterflyfish in Mushroom Only Tank
Replies
3
Views
473
Jposch
J
griss
What's Your History in the Hobby?
2 3
Replies
48
Views
1K
T Diddy
T Diddy
Anemone
PAR!
2
Replies
25
Views
406
Misled
Misled
Corals.com
**SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT: FIJI YELLOW LEATHERS** ~ 20% off Madness Sale
Replies
1
Views
29
Corals.com
Corals.com
Back
Top