T5 only SPS Tank pictures?

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7429540#post7429540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ryannat1
Classic RC response. This is why you guys have people leaving every week. Why does every time someone asks a question it turns into an argument. Go back in your hole unless you have T5 setup pics or answers to questions. Later Ryan

Personally I think that comment was out of line Ryan. I do agree that people get very defensive here on RC a little too quickly. I have been guilty of it myself in the past. I do not have any problems if you want to use T5's, VHO's, MH's, PC's, or plane incandescent light bulbs for that matter. In any given situation one will work better than the other. It all depends on how you're trying to apply it.

Personally as stated earlier I use to be an avid VHO only guy. I defended them tooth and nail and thought MH's were a waste of money. The VHO setup I ran grew anything with moderate growth. However that being said I made the switch to MH's with VHO sups and will not go back. I like the natural look of XM's and the ripple lines that you get which do occur in the wild.

T5's and VHO's cannot give you as well a defined ripple line as MH's do no matter how much you agitate the surface. I think that is one of the appeals to MH's. I have seen a few nice looking tanks using T5's, but I have seen more natural looking tanks with great coloration using MH's and some VHO supplementation. I once heard someone say to me that "we should strive to make our tanks as close to the ocean as we can" of course that is all with in reason, but there is definitely some truth to that.

My tank is as low budget as it gets. I have no calcium reactor, no skimmer, no dosing pumps, or any other expensive equipment running and my tank thrives, not survives. The only time it survives is when I forget to do water changes over a short period of time. I like to keep things simple and one thing is for certain there are those in this hobby that make reef keeping a PITB instead of a hobby that is enjoyable.

Personally I don't think there is any ONE right method. If that were the case we all would be doing the same thing.

Oh and Ryan to answer your earlier question about XM's going that long. I based it off of their website per my daily photo period. Plus I asked the question here on RC how often should I replace them. You see the thing is you can tell me all about spectrum shifting and PAR and all the other measurements of light that change as the bulb ages, but my simple answer to that is this. If the corals are happy, which in most cases they're. Then I am happy with running my bulb's as long as I can. I did it with my VHO's when everyone said I shouldn't and never had a single problem.

Simply put. There are just some things where experience is everything and science just gets in the way. Please don't take offense to that. I do love science, but honestly there are lots of times where science is wrong and people are right.

To all you T5 users, good luck. I may have to try using them as my supplementation like gcarroll said instead of VHO's. I have heard that my IceCap 660 can power them with no problems. All I would need to do is replace my end caps and clips.

God Bless,
Bill

 

[Fliger]

MHO is that it takes an IC660 driving T5's to equal MH as far as intensity. However, I think there is ENOUGH light in normally driven T5's for the large majority of SPS. I like the way T5's light an entire tank, with no dark spots. Clkwrks colors are amazing and obviously light is part of it, but his excellent husbandry is just as big a part IMO.

I have a pendant with 2x250W and 4x54W. I just rewired it to overdrive the T5's off of a 660. Its not over the tank yet, but from the looks so far, the T5's are every bit as bright as the MH - and they cover a much wider area. I'll try to get a light meter and take some measurements as soon as I can get it hung. I used this pendant with the normal ballasts for a couple months - ran the T5 about 12 hours and the MH about 4 hours and was getting great results. I imagine with the 660, I can keep the MH down to 4 hours.

The total wattage of the T5's when they were driven off the supplied ballasts was about 220W, I think it will now run about 320W (my watt meter is at a friends). I know that the 2x250W MH were drawing about 625W total.

 

[J4Life]

Fliger,

I was checking out your pictures and noticed that your tank looks custom built. How many gallons is it and who built it for you?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[dvanacker]

Heres mine 4 x 54 watt, IC SLRS and aquablue/blue+ bulbs. The tank is a 1 year old 55g. Some of my corals have lightened up and I think it may be from too much light.....still working on it but all in all the colors are decent.

 

[Jacob D]

Nice tank dvanacker. What is the blue acro on the upper left?

 

[bnlimit10]

brand new t5 only tank

brand new t5 only tank

I literaly started this tank on Saturday, so lots of stuff still left to go in. Now I dont have the expensive cameras or a way to do macro shots that will highlight how bright t5's are. I now have been in both sides of the fence, my 90 gallon is lit by MH. From my relatively short time with t5 I can tell you that the new tank is every bit as bright as the MH.

 

[J4Life]

clkwrk,

Awesome looking tank. Can you tell me why you're using 5 - 250's on your tank?

dvanacker nice 55 gallon tank. I started with that size and upgraded to a 75 gallon. Now I am wanting to build and in wall 225 gallon tank.

bnlimit10 I would like to see some pictures of your 240 gallon tank.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[clkwrk]

dvanacker- Nice colors! Are you dosing anything or using prohibio or zeo?

Fliger- You are right my husbandry has alot to do with my colors although I would like the same colors just low wattage less heat producing lights. But I also don't want extreamly light corals either. Can't wait to have you out to see the 180 although I still have some trim to do on the stand.

J4life - I run 5x250's for the simple fact that I have lots of high light loving acros that need a certain range of light to grow and color as they are supposed to . I have had my sps long enough to move them around enough to know how much light they need to stay have and thrive. A few I have almost lost due to moving them into lower light levels and only recovered when moved back up into higher light. I can tell you my tank is daylight bright and I tone my pictures waydown otherwise my photos would be supper bright and saturated.

Also added benifits of my 5 pendants is coverage not only do I have an entire area the length of the tank which is a hotspot all the way across I have light from many many angles which results in colored undersides of my corals . Very few if any are white on the bottom or deep inside a coral. I not new to heavy lighting . My 120 had 3 350's and everyone thought I was crazy . Within the next year many people were using 3 over a 4x2x2. My water quality is great minus my recent nitrate problem which doesn't go up but hangs around . I believe it is from a few rocks that I put into the 180 from my BB softie tank. Anyways I have been happy with my 5x250's but am always looking for a new way to light the tank the same way using less power. But I won't do it if I am going to lose rich colors.

 

[dvanacker]

clkwrk....Im not dosing anything. Like I said some some of my corals have gotten lighter then when I first purchased them. Infact I just got another frag of slimer (from the same tank) and its more green where mine is lighter and more yellow. Some of my corals actually look better lighter. One of my acros went from olive green to floresent lime green/yellow.

Now I'm just trying things to deepen up the corals a bit. Any suggestions. What could be the reason for lightening.

Im trying a few things right now. I've added more fish. Let some nutrients build up.....and lowered the length of the light period.

 

[Horace]

Dvanacker, I think it very well could be that the T5s are too bright....I have the EXACT same problem. Masterswimmer also had the same problem. He raised his T5s up to 12" over the tank and now he says his greens have come back. I have also recently ordered some Iron supplement. Supposedly iron can help greens look much nicer. I think I will probably raise my lights and start dosing Iron and see what happens.

 

[pk1]

clkwrk, why not lumenarcs? I get an excellent spread on my 180 with 3 of these reflectors.

PK

 

[clkwrk]

Spread isn't the issue intensity is Lumenarcs have excellent spread but the hot spot is smaller than a roIII. I went rounds with that one back and forth until I decide toget the extra 2x250's to add to the existing 3 I had over the 120.

Thx

 

[s3aL]

Im a former MH user who switched to HO T5. I had the 48" PFO arcolight 2x250w DE(14k phoenix) 2x110w VHO(super actinic) on a 45g tank. I got decent color from my SPS and okay growth. I did have a temp probably though due to heat which lend to 3-4 degree temp changes. It also sucked up ALOT of electricity.

I cant talk about success with T5 since I just got my tank setup and have to wait alittle while before SPS come into play. But I have see plenty of tanks that inspired me to switch to T5. What I did notice is my T5 setup is WAAAAYY brighter then my MH setup was and thats with using 2x aquablues and 4x blueplus. Cant wait till I can start adding SPS .

 

[Horace]

I just modified my order of new bulbs actually because I think my setup is too bright. I think they are actually bleaching some of my caps and making some of my green corals look more yellowish in color. I ordered the following:

SA
AB
B+
AB
B+
SA

I think this combo will provide a good amount of PAR still and have GREAT flourescence....

 

[masterswimmer]

Horace, that's the same bulb configuration I'm using. Nice choice, IMO.

swimmer

 

[pk1]

All this back and forth is really pretty pointless, until someone actually takes some real comparison tests with a good PAR meter. I would love to see Sanjay run some tests on the T5's...I would consider swapping out my VHO's in favor of T5's slimmer profile. If the info is out there and I just have not come across it yet, could someone post a link? My MH's would stay though, even if PAR was comparable with T's, as I personally love the look of the glitter lines And when talking about energy, how much $$ are we really talking about? My electric bill is only 110 or so a month, with 3 400W MH's and four 6' VHO's. Also, from what I saw with the LED lights at IMAC this year, MH, T5, VHO etc are going to have some serious competition!

PK

 

[J4Life]

clkwrk,

I understand that you want light coverage everywhere in your tank. Would you agree that even a natural reef doesn't have light every where and yet corals thrive. One of the things that continues to surprise me about this hobby is the ability for these animals to adapt and do things that scientist say they shouldn't be able to.

I do understand the importance of good husbandry, but I also know from personal experience that all of this high tech equipment in some cases is not always necessary. I have just a few acros. Primarily caps (red, green, orange), 1 blue tort, 1 tri-color valida, pavona, Pink millepora, Pink Birdsnest and another I am not exactly sure of. Maybe all of those that I mentioned are not considered high level so to speak. My point is though that all of them have awesome coloration and I believe its due to my new lighting setup.

My plan is to upgrade to a 225 in the near future and I believe I will run only 3, 250 watt MH's, and 2 VHO's or 4 36" T5's for blue supplementation. My power bill is less than when I ran 6 VHO's and my water temp only rises about 1.5 degrees with my lights on and they are 4 inches from the top of the water. I have no chiller either.

So I am not exactly certain that corals need as much light as you are putting into your tank. Don't take this wrong you know your system better than I do. I am just trying to understand and learn from everyone participating in this thread.

I do appreciate you sharing your experience. Have you used less bulbs in past and have you tried single end bulbs instead of double end. I have heard from some here on RC that SE's use less power. Plus the bulbs are much cheaper. That is one reason why I chose the XM 10k's.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Fliger]

Hey Chris, I can't wait to check out the 180 also! LMK your next day off and I'll run down there. Hey do you know anyone in town with a light meter? I'd like to test these T5's vs the MH but I don't think I'll have my Lux Meter for a couple more months.

J4Life - if you're talking about the big acrylic tank, its made by Envision Acrylics - probably the best acrylic hobbyist tank available. The glass one under the Elos chapter is made by Elos.

 

[ejocam]

Maybe John (Badmort ) can post pics of his old tank. He was using T-5's around late 2003 or early 2004, I really don't remember. What I do know is that he had a frag of my retired Pink Milli that had great growth and color. I know there were several locals who had a chance to see his tank, maybe he can sneak away from scrubbing all them tanks:lol:

Greg is right, "It's in the water quality" Figured that one out almost 2 years ago. Husbandry, Husbandry, Husbandry......:eek2:

 

[jda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7426440#post7426440 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by masterswimmer
The folks that argue about T5's not putting out enough light have never used them or have used inferior reflectors and ballasts.

You can say the same thing for MH. How many of you have had a year's worth of experience of HQI in good reflectors on ANSI M80 ballasts? Why are people comparing some high-end MH system to some broke-*** T5 system... or the other way around. Seems stupid.

Wouldn't it stand to reason that a HO T5 system on good reflectors and Icecap would kill a ghetto MH system with no relector and a bad bulb? Wouldn't it also stand to reason that a HQI setup in a good pendant on M80 ballasts (or whatever) would also kill a cheapo t5 retro?

Who cares? It all seems to work. Why fight about it? At least put apples to apples when you compare these things. A guy with a fortune in his 300G SPS tank with 10 years of experience shouldn't be arguing with a guy with some montis and ORA frags in a 20 high with 9 months of experience. There are too many other factors than the lights that have played in to all of this.