T5's: A cautionary note

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks guys, I've had the resizer on the other computer and couldn't remember where the heck got it.

Now I be ready to take some pics.

 

[drouner]

Grim,

I have my dads old AH Supply electronic fluorescent ballast he had when he was running PC's. Doest say much on the ballast plate.

For CFS/4P lamp combinations of 110 watts
Max current 1.15 AMPS
Class P

Do you think it will run 2x24 watt T5's w/o a problem?

I am looking to replace my PC's.

Doug

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Dunno. Pauleric I think is the screen name for a guy that works for a lighting co that might be able to answer that question. He's usually got some pretty good info on halide ballasts so maybe he'll know about the PC's.

I think it would be worth a shot but I've never tryed it.

 

[spykes]

i have a question just what's the numbers of the reflector diffrences?
how much par comes out of the icecaps?
and how much comes out of the sunlighsupply ones?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I dont remember the exact number but they are in the thread "the great T5 glarathon" in the equipment forum. I know that at 18" of water depth the IC beat the SLS by 20%.

 

[RedEyeReef]

I dont remember the exact number but they are in the thread "the great T5 glarathon" in the equipment forum. I know that at 18" of water depth the IC beat the SLS by 20%.

Hey Grim,

Do you have a link for that thread?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

No link. Try a search for Glarathon in the equipment forum when the server isn't so busy.

 

[saltwaterfishlover]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=536358&highlight=Glarathon

 

[FastUno]

For those who have not seen this great T5 thread.
Phenomenal!!!!!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=700454&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[FastUno]

Just when you thought it was safe to throw those T5's back on!

The MH/T5 combo has worked great for me so far.

 

[rickburdeniuk]

FastUno you tank looks great!

3 month time difference and I see noticable growth dispite that 20K bulb and all that blue as well!

 

[gregrex]

Nice tank FastUno. Is that still a faux sandbed? How would you say it's working out? Would you do it again?

 

[FastUno]

rickburdeniuk, thanks. Would you believe for the first 4 months I only ran my MH for 6hrs/day & then bumped them up to 8hrs thereafter. The rest of the time I run the 2 T5's only.

On a side note, I do cheat on the weekends sometimes (not always). When I feel I need to view the shimmers for extended hours I will leave them on for 12hrs or so.



gregrex, yes still doing the faux sandbed. I feel that you cannot beat the look of real sand in a reef. At the same token, it's hard to beat the ease of maintenance without sand. Weighing the two I would have to side with low maintenance & healthier corals, so BB still gets my vote!

In the pictures my BB looks uglier, but in person it just looks like a natural floor. It has very thick coverings of purple & red coralline. I would much rather have it covered in coralline rather than the white starboard look that I see out there.

 

[NorthernCF]

Fast, what is your light schedual now?


Black Bare bottom looks the best from what I have seen in person. A local has a faux sand bed recently installed. I am anxious to see what it looks like next year!

 

[FastUno]

11am- 2x T5's on
2pm- MH on
10pm-MH off
11pm- T5's off
11pm-Moonlights on till 11am.

 

[rdmpe]

I have been trying for months to get some "superblue" T5 lamps from commodity axis. What is going on? How do I get these lamps???

I need 38 3/8" lamps to fit in a maristar fixture, although I think I might be able to adjust the ends slightly if I want to tear the fixture open (again)...

So you folks that got your hands on the SuperBlues (GRIM) what is the secret?

I keep emailing them and all I get back is "the shipment was delayed, should be in at end of month" etc. etc.

 

[Codeman00]

Don't waste your time on the Superblues if you've ran the blue plus. They look exactly the same and the superblues dont come in the same size that ATI bulbs come in. Its not worth it, IMHO.

 

[rdmpe]

Well, right now I have the stock T5's that come with the maristar. Heck I don't even know what lamps they are (anyone know? I should have written it down when I had the fixture apart).

I was just planning on getting the superblues because grimreefer was always saying how great they were. So you think the blueplus are just as good? At least I know I can order those!

 

[Codeman00]

Grim and I had this Superblue vs ATI Blueplus discussion awhile back on this thread. I ordered the superblue bulbs because of his recommendation and needless to say, I couldnt tell them apart from the blueplus..both looked just as good. The bad part about the Superblues were that 1) they are longer than a normal T5 bulb, 2) if you buy the superblue fixture, it comes with a cheap throwaway ballast, and its a pain to order from Commodity Axis. I sent them back for a refund and am glad that I don't have to deal with that company anymore.

 

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=809797