The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Per lamp.

Doing tank pictures would be rough. Too many differnt combinations of lamps. he GE aint bad, just better options IMO. Color is such a personal taste thing its hard to say, you may like the GE better.

 

[Icefire]

it's me or a single 54w lamp have more PAR than half the 250w halide tested here? http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

Unreal... Look like I could just buy 2 bulb to start with for softys/maybe LPS

 

[hahnmeister]

PAR is a relative number. Grims numbers are based on a bulb at a certain distance. So the numbers you get from different bulbs will depend on the distance, as well as the use, or non-use of a reflector. A 250wattDE halide will put out 3000+ within 3" of the bulb, and maybe only 200 at 18" away w/o a reflector... so its all relative, not absolute.

 

[Icefire]

The quantum sensor was place 8” below the center of the arc tube.

(250w halide testing, no reflector)
The best was 500-600 while most were averaging 300

Still, most halide are placed quite high in our tanks compared to T5.

If 2-3x 54W give the same as a 250W at NORMAL operating distance, with/WO reflector, no need for 4-6 bulb stacked on regular tank. 6x54W on a 4 feet 90G would be over-kill, like placing 2x 400W halides..

 

[TonyTheTiger]

need advice

need advice

Grim,

I have a 90 gallon that I am looking to add T5 lighting to. I was looking at the Aqua Medic Oceanlight T5 Fixture either 6 or 8 bulbs. Would this light be sufficient enough to run some sps and clams? I want a mostly softie tank with some variety of sps and clams. If not what would you recommend that wont break the bank? My wife has me on a budget and the Aqua medic falls in that budget. I don't think that the aqua medic has individual reflectors. . Anyhelp would be great!
Thanks

 

[TonyTheTiger]

need advice

need advice

Grim,

I have a 90 gallon that I am looking to add T5 lighting to. I was looking at the Aqua Medic Oceanlight T5 Fixture either 6 or 8 bulbs. Would this light be sufficient enough to run some sps and clams? I want a mostly softie tank with some variety of sps and clams. If not what would you recommend that wont break the bank? My wife has me on a budget and the Aqua medic falls in that budget. I don't think that the aqua medic has individual reflectors. . Anyhelp would be great!
Thanks



http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=979

 

[The Grim Reefer]

For the price I would get the Tek or better yet the Aquactinic.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Ok How many bulbs should I run with either the tek or aquactinic?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

6 for the Tek, 5 for the aquactinics. The aquactinics has better reflectors and a cooling fan which helps but they use Workhorse ballasts which take a tad away. Still about 30% more output than the Tek.

 

[yeldarbj]

Grim,

I appreciate all the great info that you have dispersed in this thread and others. I've been following along and looked up on Sunlight Supply's website. It looks like they offer 2 different T5 retro kits:

1) T5 Retro-Fit Kit with Tek II slr's and a WorkHorse Ballast
2) T5 Tek Retro System with Tek slr's and "major brand" ballast

I know you've mentioned that you don't like the WH ballast. Are you better off with kit #2 and upgrade to IceCap slr's? In your opinion is it worth it just to go up to the IceCap retro?

Any opinion on the Dynamic Ballast (sold by Aquarium Specialty - Distributed and Warranted by IceCap for three years)?

I'm looking to add a 2x39 T5 to my 65g tank with my current 2x96w PC's, with the idea that I would eventually remove the PC's for another 2x39 or 3x39 T5 setup.

 

[jdellman]

Now thate I have decided on the Ultra Solaris 48" 6 x 54, the only remaining decision is which bulbs to order with it.

What do you experts recommend? And to prevent the future post, what order would you put them in?

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[glenik]

Alright Grim, I'm convinced. I'm going to order the Aquactinics 5x54 for my 72 gallon bowfront. I am at a complete loss as to what bulbs to get and what order to put them in. Would you be so kind as to make a reccomendation?

 

[casingbill]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9157978#post9157978 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdellman
Now thate I have decided on the Ultra Solaris 48" 6 x 54, the only remaining decision is which bulbs to order with it.

What do you experts recommend? And to prevent the future post, what order would you put them in?

Thanks again for all the advice.

I was convinced I was going to buy the ultra solaris. That was after I was convinced I was going with the tek retros. Now I'm convinced I'm going to wait for the ATI since its only a couple bucks more.....

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Once reefgeek gets the new reflectors they will be doing retros with the right ballasts and the new style reflectors. I have no idea if the SLS new style reflector will be better than Ice Caps or not. The Dynamic ballasts seem to be good.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9157821#post9157821 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yeldarbj
Grim,

I appreciate all the great info that you have dispersed in this thread and others. I've been following along and looked up on Sunlight Supply's website. It looks like they offer 2 different T5 retro kits:

1) T5 Retro-Fit Kit with Tek II slr's and a WorkHorse Ballast
2) T5 Tek Retro System with Tek slr's and "major brand" ballast

I know you've mentioned that you don't like the WH ballast. Are you better off with kit #2 and upgrade to IceCap slr's? In your opinion is it worth it just to go up to the IceCap retro?

Any opinion on the Dynamic Ballast (sold by Aquarium Specialty - Distributed and Warranted by IceCap for three years)?

I'm looking to add a 2x39 T5 to my 65g tank with my current 2x96w PC's, with the idea that I would eventually remove the PC's for another 2x39 or 3x39 T5 setup.

 

[Icefire]

Grim, how did you test each lamp?
Distance, with/without reflector?

 

[Grey Reefer]

Hey Grim and hanh, have either of you heard of any plans for H.O. T5 shorter than 24 inches ? It would be nice to light smaller tanks with H.O. T5.

 

[hahnmeister]

No plans as of yet, but I have heard of another bulb that may generate some buzz in reefing in years to come (besides LEDs). Its called an induction lamp, and it consists of a circular ring of a tube... so its not exactly a long narrow lamp like a PC, but at least there is some space in the middle of the 'o' so hopes for a nice reflector are not lost.

The bulb works by creating a magnetic flow within the bulb itself, and contains NO actual electrodes inside the bulb. Its 100% gas and phosphors... so no sputtering startup or black rings. Its longevity is phenominal while having a very low heat signature thanks to the lack of actual electrodes in the lamp itself. Current versions are in the 75 lumens/watt range, but I have it on good authority that ones with 90-100 lumens/watt are in the works.

This would allow for little circular reflectors to be developed that would easily fit over a nano, and the low heat output would also be a particular bonius.

Another thing to keep in mind with these types of lamps is that they can have some very long-lived phosphors, as no electric arc in the typical sense is actually passed through the tube itself. So phosphors that are particularly delicate (like UV and actinic) are much longer lived in this package. Imagine an actinic bulb that lasts 5 years... kinda cool, no? Regular ones sare expected to last 20 years. The CRI of these bulbs is also very high... higher than halides even.

Im not so sure this technology will find its way into the aquarium trade, but the potential is there. In 3 years though, I see LED's gaining popularity as production examples of 130-150lumen/watt units come out, prices plunge, and lenses develop further.

 

[hahnmeister]

dp

 

[TropTrea]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9159679#post9159679 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister


Another thing to keep in mind with these types of lamps is that they can have some very long-lived phosphors, as no electric arc in the typical sense is actually passed through the tube itself. So phosphors that are particularly delicate (like UV and actinic) are much longer lived in this package. Imagine an actinic bulb that lasts 5 years... kinda cool, no? Regular ones sare expected to last 20 years. The CRI of these bulbs is also very high... higher than halides even.

Well the highest CRI's that I had seen are still the old fashoioned triple phoshate florsecent tubes. Some of the Hide CRI numbers I have seen were actually awful.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9159679#post9159679 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister

Im not so sure this technology will find its way into the aquarium trade, but the potential is there. In 3 years though, I see LED's gaining popularity as production examples of 130-150lumen/watt units come out, prices plunge, and lenses develop further.

Right now I thing the only reason LED fixture prices are so high is that they are trying to get back some of there initial R and D costs with a product that has not yet reached acceptance at a level where they have a considerable market share.

It is possible today to build a LED headlamp for almost any car at half the cost of most conventional headlamps. You can take a lighting fixture with 24 high intensity LED's costing under $1.00 each and realy get a powerful light fixture. But if your selling them at 100 units a month and you had millions invested in R and D to cover the investment in one year you need to add on over $800 per light fixture, and if want to break even in 7 years your adding on 120 per fixture. Then remember these companies are in business to make money rather than just make customer happy.

Now your looking at another new technology. So the questions arises if the aquarium industry is big enough for some company to invest in the R and D of this and still make a profit. If it does fan out how much will it reduce there profits from there existing product lines? How much will they need to spend on advertisement to convince the customer to switch over. How long will they have to break even before some newer technology takes over?

Lets just look back only a few years. Remember when Compacts first hit the aquarium industry. It was not unusual to spend $500 on a fixture with 2-55 watt bulbs. It was promoted and looked like the lighting of the future. Yet today even after the pricing dropped it has dropped in popularity and effeciency compared to many of the other options out there.

Dennis

 

[TropTrea]

The big thing here is that if want to make any kind of comparison you cannot compare appels to oranges. One persons data can be completly different on what might blindly appear like the same test when compared to another individuals.

The only way to have an accurate comparison is when only one variable is changed between the different bulbs. Such simple things as what light meter was used (even if they both are the same brand) can change the compatision numbers.

And yes distance from is going to extremly change your numbers. Lets look at Jon's comparison on a bulb that puts out 3000 at 3", this same bulb will put out 750 at 6", 187.5 at 12", and 46.875 at 24", not considering the reflector gain. So you can see if persons A's readings are at 8" and person b's reading are at 9" you can have already a 27% difference in readings. Now add another 15% for difference between two meters, and another 50% for the other 30 unknown variable that might exist. Now were not ev en close to apples and oranges but more like straberries to spinich.

Dennis

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9154746#post9154746 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
PAR is a relative number. Grims numbers are based on a bulb at a certain distance. So the numbers you get from different bulbs will depend on the distance, as well as the use, or non-use of a reflector. A 250wattDE halide will put out 3000+ within 3" of the bulb, and maybe only 200 at 18" away w/o a reflector... so its all relative, not absolute.