Ok. I just got a 24" 96 watt current SunDial. I already had a 150 watt SunPod MH. I was thinking that I might get better results with the T-5s. I just ordered 2 Blue Plus ATI and, a UVI AquaSun. and a UVI 75/25. I was still not totaly convinced that this would put out more light then my MH but everyone is talkin these T-5s up so much I thought I would give em a try. So today I took a Lux meter and tested it out. I put my T-5 on a 16 gal and put the meter at the bottom. on the 10x Lux setting I got about 600 Lum. Then I put the MH on and it blew the T-5s away with 1600 lum. Now If PAR is the most important thing for quality of light how can T-5s come anywhere close the MH?
What is up with this T-5 hubub
- Thread starter mjstover
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13threefmaniac
New member
Does the sundial have individual reflectors? The shape and material of the reflectors plays a huge role in PAR. At least thats what i understand from what i've read.
T5
T5
From everything I have read and studied up on not only does the quality individual reflector play a huge role there is also a big performance difference by brand. With T5's you get what you pay for to some degree. I have been told that for most practices you should be looking at either a TEK, Aquactinics, or ATI.... in order from lowest performance to highest. A 48" 6 bulb ATI fully set up would probably cost over $700.
You should look some of the PAR readings that are being discussed in Grimreefers T5 threads in teh lighting forum.
T5
From everything I have read and studied up on not only does the quality individual reflector play a huge role there is also a big performance difference by brand. With T5's you get what you pay for to some degree. I have been told that for most practices you should be looking at either a TEK, Aquactinics, or ATI.... in order from lowest performance to highest. A 48" 6 bulb ATI fully set up would probably cost over $700.
You should look some of the PAR readings that are being discussed in Grimreefers T5 threads in teh lighting forum.
deklin
New member
sundial fixtures don't have individual parabolic reflectors, just a contoured single reflector, it's all about the reflectors when it comes to T5 output. Try a icecap retro, ATI powermodule, aquatinics solarflare or something like that if you are looking for high output. Also in your comparison you have only 96 watts of T5 versus 150 watts MH and the strength of MH is a focused hot spot directly beneath while T5 has a more uniform spread.
SpiderCrab2
New member
That is correct the T5 more evenly distrubes the light, where as the MH is more of a flood lighting device.
Also it is true that the more you pay the better performace you will see in the fluorescent bulbs. But here a killer no one is going to tell you on the box. The light might very well be rated for 10,000 to 15,000 hours, but fluroresecents degrade rather quickly and should be changed every 10 to 12 months for maxium output. So you are getting only half of the useful life span on T5.
Also it is true that the more you pay the better performace you will see in the fluorescent bulbs. But here a killer no one is going to tell you on the box. The light might very well be rated for 10,000 to 15,000 hours, but fluroresecents degrade rather quickly and should be changed every 10 to 12 months for maxium output. So you are getting only half of the useful life span on T5.
Malifluous
New member
lum is not a measure of PAR
silverwolf72
New member
The thing with T5 is you get more even light across the whole tank. If you move further away and away from the center of the MH the light will drop off more rapid than the T5. So the MH should blow the T5 away when your right underneath it. Only way I can thing to compare them is if you used a magnifier so you could focus them both down to the same spot size and then see which had more light.
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