T5's: A cautionary note

[Luis A M]

PC vs T5

PC vs T5

I guess I jumped in a wrong site,as this is mostly T5 vs MH
I wanted to find out which is better,PC or T5 and why.Most people here seem to favour T5 but donÃ"šÃ‚´t provide sound reasons.I donÃ"šÃ‚´t have yet any experience with any of them but I see that a PC is roughly like two same length T5,using only one socket and one ballast.Sure it takes more room than a T5,but not more than two T5 with moisture -proof sockets.

 

[TEC1364]

Re: PC vs T5

Re: PC vs T5

I guess I jumped in a wrong site,as this is mostly T5 vs MH
I wanted to find out which is better,PC or T5 and why.Most people here seem to favour T5 but donÃ"šÃ‚´t provide sound reasons.I donÃ"šÃ‚´t have yet any experience with any of them but I see that a PC is roughly like two same length T5,using only one socket and one ballast.Sure it takes more room than a T5,but not more than two T5 with moisture -proof sockets.

Luis,

Simply put, T5's with individual reflectors put out a lot more light than PC's.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

T5 is better than PC because I said so

Because of the design of PC's you have two tubes side by side which cook each other. Heat causes fluorescent lamps to run dimmer and lowers the effective life of the lamps. One of the biggest slams on PC is the need to change them every 9 to 12 months. Another drawback in the design is it prevents the light from the upper half of the twin tubes is blocked from ever reaching the tank, what good does the light doif it never makes it into the water? Until recently the color of the PC'swasn't great either but in the last year or so they seem to have gotten better.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,

Can you enlighten us as to what you mean? What besides shimmer lines can the MH do that T5 can't?

IMO MH gives a washed out darker appearance than T5, this is not a look I want at all.

Due to heat concerns and the size of halide reflectors, they were never an option for me personally. Although I did toy with the thought, I just couldn't justify the time and effort of modifying my canopy to raise it high enough for halides and VHO actinic supplements.

Glenn

Fluorescents can not provide as broad a spectrum of light output as a halide. Nor can they match the PAR output. On any tank 6 foot or longer Halides are cheaper to install and run. Say you had a tank 6 feet long and 2 feet wide and tall. You would either want to run 16 36" T5's (2 sets of 8 side by side) or 8 80 watt T5's (60" long)staggered end to end. 3 250 watt halides are a lot less moving parts to install and maintain. In cases like yours where you run a standard canopy T5's are usually the way to go but plenty of people go with an open top or custom canopy.

 

[johns]

Re: PC vs T5

Re: PC vs T5

I guess I jumped in a wrong site,as this is mostly T5 vs MH
I wanted to find out which is better,PC or T5 and why.Most people here seem to favour T5 but donÃ"šÃ‚´t provide sound reasons.I donÃ"šÃ‚´t have yet any experience with any of them but I see that a PC is roughly like two same length T5,using only one socket and one ballast.Sure it takes more room than a T5,but not more than two T5 with moisture -proof sockets.

Luis-

Either trust the opinions here or do the searches and you'll see for yourself:

There is no way you would conclude that PCs are even on par with T5s. Period.

Dont take this as being rude. But like I said, do the searches if need be and you will see. The main questions being asked nowadays is whether keeping SPS with T5s is as good as MH. Keeping SPS with PCs has pretty much been tried and found to not be optimal. The debate is still on with T5s.

 

[merk1_99]

Well i am going T5. The 6 Bulb Tek fixture. Pick it up next weekend. The owner wants shimmer lines, so my good fortune I guess. My tank is 24''. I think I am going to go 2 GE, 2 aquablue, and 2 pluses. I want to keep a crocea/or maxima clam so I think I need the extra GE bulb. Any thoughts?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Sounds good. That should give you about the most par you can get without having a yellow cast to the light.

 

[merk1_99]

My plan is to start the lights 12'' off the tank top, and slowly lower them over time. I am also going to use a couple layers of screen over the tank. Removing the layers slowly. Right now all i have for corals are a hammer coral, frogspawn, open brain coral, and some mushrooms. The hammer, and the brain are showing good growth. They have been in the tank for a month. Already the hammer is grwoing juvenile polyps, and the brain has noticably increased in size, all under 2 96watt pcs. So i can only imagine what may happen with growth after the acclimation period. All of my corals were taken from tanks with 250MH as the light source. All of the LFS vendors i shop at for coral use MH's, or T5's to light the corals. So I am not afraid of acclimating future purchases to the tank. Just what I currently have. I can't wait to get the T5's. I will finally be in the light game...

Grim I noticed that That Fish Place is selling T6 bulbs in their latest catalog. You may want to check those out. I have no idea of whether they are good or not....

http://thatpetplace.com/MainPro/shopay00.aspx

So I guess i look like I am going to be behind the light revolution again. What is going to make T6's better than T5's?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Once the VHO T6 hit's the market we'll see what happens. The T6 is easier on the ballast to run, can handle true VHO current and because the glass tube is slightly thicker they wont break as easily. They will also be a direct replacement for t12 VHO lamps, no special lengths or endcaps needed. The NO T6 can be overdriven but aren't as bright as the VHO ones.

 

[FastUno]

Okay dudes I am officially on the MH track, but still have not fallen off the T5 bandwagon, so don't throw me out of the club just yet. I received my Acquactinic fixtures last week & I have had them on for a few days now. I must say that I am impressed!
From the customer service, to the speed of delivery & packaging. The fixtures are sturdy & impressive, love the way I can just place them on top of the tank. Seems like they raise the temp about 1-2 deg in my tank, all depending on how humid it's. This is pretty much the same temp increase that I had from the T5's.

Official specs are:
2x 250W MH (XM 20K bulbs)
2x 54W T5's (aquablue & blue+)
2x LED Moonlights
2x IC fans

I heard the XM 20K's appeared too blue to some & was worried that I was going to think the same, but it turns out just right. I thought it would give the tank a darker look, but it seems like there is enough light penetration, perhaps because the lights are directly on top of the tank? The 20K puts out enough blue that I use the T5's for some extra par output (hence the Aquablue & blue+ combo) & this also allows me to run the MH for a narrow period & use the T5's for extended hours. Then we kick into overtime with the LED's. They are IC Mogul mounted LED's & I was skeptical about them. I didn't think 2 of them would provide the proper look, but wholly *)#$&)(#*, they are freakin awesome. They give me some more shimmers, awesome green & red neon reflections from corals, & the ability to see more of my tank into the wee hours of the night.

My green shrooms don't appear as if they are struggling, unlike with the 175W MH, & the monti has the deep rich color still. My red mushrooms are now exposed & happily extending (YESSSSSS). They now look like what mushrooms should look like. All I want to do now is sit back & enjoy my corals. Hopefully watch them grow too. I will be paying special attention to any negative signs (if any) & to coral coloration & growth in the next few weeks.

I am having trouble capturing the true look of tank with the MH on, will be working on that. Here are some rush pics for now. Some were taken with only the T5's running, while others with only the MH running. Can you pick them out?

 

[FastUno]

 

[Codeman00]

I've now tried 3 mushrooms under my T5s on or near the sand bed. The first purple mushroom from my LFS loved the light...attached in a day and has been spread out ever since. The second purple mushroom (from a friend) was put in the same place and hated the light to the fact that he moved out of the spot I stuck him in....I found him floating around the tank. He's now in the shade where I stuck him. The orange ricordia was the third and he hates the light too. I have since moved him into the shade. We'll see how they do now. Interesting. That friend has a 250W Metal Halide on his tank..but it is much taller tank than the LFS has.

 

[Ti]

Might as well post an update.
MH stays.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I ordered EVC 250 watt electronic ballasts and 14K DE lamps last week. I hope these things will have enough PAR but I was trying to see if I can avoid adding fans. I was going to go SE so I could remove the UV sheild but I checked it and it only reduces par by about 11%. Very clear looking glass, almost like star fire. I noticed how clear the sheild was when checking the PAR lose through the glass lids for the tank, they cut just over 20%.

 

[FastUno]

The shield that is on this unit is VERY clear & VERY thin. I can't believe how thin it's though & immediately thought to myself it must lose less than 15%, probably no more than 10-12%. Being the fact that the fixture is on top of the tank & not the normal 6-12" high, I am sure that I am gaining more pars. I did a quick test by simply raising the fixtures higher & when I lower them it definitely looks more brighter where it's needed most.

Regardless, it has been a few days & all corals seem to be happy. Extension is better than I have ever seen & it appears as if the corals are eagerly basking in the MH Sun. Still too early to rule out how any coral is officially accepting the 20K bulbs, but so far so good. Although, my mushrooms give it the thumbs up, so now it's time to go mushroom mad.

 

[FastUno]

BTW, those are all pics from my new cam, the Canon 20D with 50mm macro lens.

Also, I gained 2 frags. One of a monti cap that used to be very neon green & now looks tan & another of a green slimer that looks more like a white/yellow. Actually the green slimmer does not even look like it's alive. Leaving them in just to see what happens. The person that I got them from kept them under 6500K MH bulbs & had many other corals that were doing great.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Increased extension isn't allways a good thing, they could be streatching for more light. I thought the aquatinics fixtures had acrylic sheilds. If thats the case I'd swap it out with some tempered glass.

 

[Luis A M]

Re: Re: PC vs T5

Re: Re: PC vs T5

Luis-



Either trust the opinions here or do the searches and you'll see for yourself:



There is no way you would conclude that PCs are even on par with T5s. Period.



Dont take this as being rude.

Well,it seems I was indeed in the wrong thread

The thing is that I had been searching and did not find any comparative study between PC and T5.That is why I asked.Perhaps you can provide some links.

 

[merk1_99]

I borrowed my friend's Tek T5 6 bulb 39 watt unit yesterday. To approximate the level of light given off my two 96watt pc's I had to raise the unit 18 inches off of the tank. My Pc's were sitting 2'' off the tank. I am sold now on par vs. watts. I never would have believed it till I read this thread, and saw the results myself. The unit I am buying is coming with 6 used bulbs with 7 months of use on them, but unfortunately two of the bulbs are the actinic. I will need to swap those out with two GE 6500's. There will need to be some serious acclimation for the tank when I get my unit on Saturday. I can't wait....

 

[luckycat]

Increased extension isn't allways a good thing, they could be streatching for more light. I thought the aquatinics fixtures had acrylic sheilds. If thats the case I'd swap it out with some tempered glass.

Grim - I have an acrylic shield on my Tek hood - should I remove it? How much intensity does the acrylic take off the lights (if that is the issue)?