Thinking about switching to T5's

[ocd_mariner]

I posted this in the equipment thread, but I'd like to see what you all have to say about it.

Hola T5'ers.

Im running a standard 120g tank (4x2x2) with 2 400w Reeflux 12ks. I'd really like to switch to T5s to save on energy costs, ballast, chiller, air conditioner etc. I've got an sps dominated tank with sps all the way to the bottom of the tank.

Currently, I have an icecap 660 ballast just running 4 NO's for color after the MH's turn off, so I could reuse that for some bulbs.

What would you recommend I get to retrofit my canopy and have lighting similar to what I have now? Possible at all?

 

[crumbletop]

You'll miss the shimmer, and the coloration of the corals will be a bit different with T5s over halides. Not better or worse coloration -- just different. T5s give a bit more of a pastel color to SPS, IME, but do a great job for bold and brilliant zoas and acans. Anyway, I'd look into a Tek retrofit from reefgeek. Probably an 8 or a 6 bulb setup. I have 6 over my 90 so 8 would probably be better for a 120. You can use the 660 for I think 3 of the bulbs, but I'm not sure about that. The 660 will overdrive the bulbs and give off more heat than a standard T5HO ballast, so if you are concerned about power consumption and heat, you might want to switch out that ballast.

 

[fallinapart]

Everything Jack said, my experience in changing to T5 was a plesant one, I went from 2 250MH to an 8 bulb TEK unit and am still very pleased with it. Heat and lighting were improved IMO and my corals have really started growing, but then I made more changes to my tank than lights within a 2 month period, so lights were only part of the formula for me. I would still go with 8 bulbs and the reto fit should go good in your hood if I am remembering how it looked last time I saw it.

Norman

 

[loyalty]

i'm loving my switch, in fact I've had the fixture little over a year now because the bulbs need replacing

 

[NeveSSL]

I would personally recommend the IceCap retro kits over the Teks simply because they're significantly more narrow. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I think it may be 3/4" or so. That meant a lot more to me with a 12.5" wide tank than it will on your 24" tank, but you know what I'm sayin'.

Keep in mind the discount we get at ReefGeek... that should come in nicely. You could possibly even do a group order and hit 10%.

It is different than MH for sure, and I can't comment as some of the others on the specifics, but I definitely think the energy savings are worth it. They should be rather significant all the way around. Plus you'll be able to see your back yard again, Chuck.

Also, just FWIW, IceCap is working on a dimmable T5 ballast. Not a big deal, but something that I'm looking forward to playing with as Aquatronica is about to release a dimming module for my controller.

Brandon

Brandon

 

[NeveSSL]

Oh yeah, I meant to mention, I've had SPS do fine on the bottom of my 24" deep tank. Specifically that piece of reverse sunset monti you gave me as well as stylopora. Granted I don't think they're the most light hungry SPS out there, they still did just fine.

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

Just a note of warning... the SLS TEK retros now include parabolic reflectors that are "more parabolic" and they are, in fact, quite a bit larger than the older ones. I measured my old ones in deciding the spacing for the new tank. Only after I had mounted and wired all 16 of the standoffs and had the bulbs installed did I unwrap the reflectors to find out that little gem (imagine the steam blowing out of my ears!). After doing a little bit of measuring I figured out that 8 of the reflectors covered a full 24" with 0 space in between them. Given that the tank is 24" and the hood has some supports that come inside of that 24" I realized there was no way I could fit all 8 retros even if I remounted them, so I just bent the reflectors a little bit.

The moral to the story is basically that: 1) you should always measure the actual thing you are trying to install (duh!), and 2) you should definitely talk to whoever you buy them from and get the exact dimensions of the reflectors... it may determine whether you can fit 6 or 8.

In any case, it is my opinion that an icecap ballast and overdriving is totally unnecessary unless you can lose a set of retros as a result (i.e., burning 6 bulbs with an icecap as opposed to 8 standard HO's). If you get the T5's close to the water (closer than a MH... it's one of the advantages to T5's), you should get more than enough light down into the tank. Also, due to the price of the separate pieces, buying reflectors and stand-offs for the ballast you already have might end up being just as expensive as buying entirely new retros.

 

[crumbletop]

Oh yeah -- I got the tek retrofit but had them swap out the reflectors with the icecap reflectors. That gave me the thinner width + the regular T5HO ballasts. I forgot that the Tek2 reflectors are wider.

 

[Nashvegas]

i switched to T5 a few months ago and for me...pieces starting growing faster and the color is indeed more of a pastel..but it seemed to make viewing sharper...everything looks great now..
you probably wouldn't regret a switch

 

[DawgDiggity]

OCD,
I am looking to upgrade my lighting as well to t5's and you can count me in, as of right now, for a group buy at reefgeek. Thanks for everybody's input. Definitely helps my decision process.