I need help choosing lighting.. thinking about t5 - Advice is needed from the pro's on light

A

Anonymous

[Hello All,

I am buying a 125 gallon tank 72"x18"x20" and am stuck on which lights to buy.

I was interested in a T5 48" 6-8 bulbs.

My questions are below and if you can answer them It would be greatly appreciated.

1. Can a 48" fixture, light a 72" tank, or do I need to have light over the full 72"?

2. Do I need a 6 or 8 bulb lighting set?

3. How much is my electric bill going to go up with a T5 light set?

4. Do you think there is a better lighting source than the T5?

If you can answer one or all my questions it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,]
 
[1. You can get a 48", but will only be able to have light-requiring livestock in the middle of your tank. I would consider the longer ones.

2. Each light takes up 2.5". You can get them in 2" if you stagger them about an inch. I would get 6 because you are probably not going to have things resting on the front and rear glass.

3. Hard to say, but probably not much. They are the most efficient light in relation their output. Better than PC, MH, or VHO.

4. Depends what you want. I tend to not think so, except for clams. I've seen SPS grow great under T5, you've just got to keep it mid-tank or higher. Clams might even be okay if you could make them stay high. You lose the shimmer, but you get cheaper electric and a cooler tank than with MH.]
 
[T5's come in 70" length too. Otherwise you might try to stagger the 48" tubes to get coverage from end to end. The center would be brighter where the tubes overlap.]
 
[Since I use metal halides and vho actinic myself, I did a little research.
If really want to light the ends of the tank, I agree you really need 72" of light. As far as I have found the longest T-5s are 48" which if you went with them you would have to stagger the light setup. 3 at one end, 3 at the other end and they would overlap in the middle. You are talking about 324watts of light, not really bad as far as electric bill goes. The cheapest I could find a 6 light T-5 fixture that was 48" was $470 with bulbs before shipping. If you took 6 bulbs with retro fit kits and tried to stagger them on your own, to cover the length of the tank, it would cost a little more, around $600 with bulbs. With T-5 lighting you could keep most corals easily, maybe not some sps corals too low, clams might make it under the highest light up high on the rocks. And as far as heat, they would keep cool with a fan blowing them.
But you asked if there is a better light source? Metal Halides are, nothing is going to penetrate the water more and give you a higher par level than metal halides. You an keep vitually any tank coral or clam under them. You could buy a 72" 3 bulb metal halide 250 watt 10k retro fit system with bulbs, before shiiping for around $700. You are getting 750watts versus 324watts and excellent coverage of the entire tank. The minus, also more than double the electric bill. And you have to think more about cooling. Sorry its so long, but you asked. Just my .02]
 
[Rick, I actually found a 60 or 70 inch bulb but it is only 6000k. Cant remember the site but that was the only color they had.]
 
[PetOrama sells Helios T5 lights, and they come in 23", 35", 47", 59", and 71" lengths. 71" bulbs are 105w each.

You'd probably have to special order them, but it is something that DAS is involved in.

Spectrum choices are Daylight, Pink (Plant Grow), Actinic Blue, Actinic Combo, UVb 6700K (reptile), UVb 11,000K (marine).]
 
[ Reef supply has 48 8 bulb fixture for $369 without bulbs. you have to type in T-5 ho in search.]



Edited By texgirl on 1092233342
 
[I found several halide setups for under 700.
The best I can figure before shipping is these prices.
3X175
Duel PFO ballast 114$
Single PFO ballast 64
PFO mogul and reflector 50$x3=150
XM or coralvue bulbs 50-60$ each X3=150
total 478$

3x250
Duel PFO ballast 139
Single PFO ballast 89
PFO mogul and reflector 50$x3=150
Hamilton 14k 63$ each X3=189
Total 567$


BTW If their is enough interest we might do a group buy on lighting. This would save you another 10% and might get free ship.]
 
@texgirl wrote:
[So what if you did two 71 inch T-5 actnic's and two medal hailds?] said:
[Halides only cover a 2 foot square. In the area outside of the halides the tank will have dim spots. The T5 cannot punch through the water like a halide can.]
Click to expand...
 
@texgirl wrote:
[ Reef supply has 48 8 bulb fixture for $369 without bulbs. you have to type in T-5 ho in search.] said:
[It will cost another 200$ for bulbs. I have not seen them less than 25$ each.]
Click to expand...
 
[OK, I've got to put in a vote for VHOs. I would go halide if I had the choice, but barring halides, my first pick would be VHOs. VHOs have been around awhile and you can easily find a variety of lamp types and lengths. Also, VHO actinics can not be beat as far as bringing out the flourescence in corals.

My number one reason for choosing VHOs is the versitality of the electronic VHO ballast. You can save big $ on lamps by running NO (normal output) lamps on the VHO ballast. The ballast will run the NO lamps at very close to the same output as VHO lamps. This means you can run to Home Depot and buy Phillips Daylight lamps (6500K) to replace the daylight VHO lamps. Compare 48" VHO Aquasuns @ $28.00ea. to 48" Phillips Daylights NO (6500K) @ less than $3.00 ea. (Yes they have the longer lengths, too!)

I still have to spend more on actinics but you could still save a few $ by buying the NO actinics. I have been mixing VHO actinics with NO daylights for 5 years now with excellant results. Yes, you do have to replace the NOs more often than VHOs (about 2 x year) but, they are so much cheaper you could change them 5X a year and still save over VHO lamps. :eyebrows:]
 
[http://coralvue.com/ballasts.htm

http://www.captivereefs.com/captive....dID=CV#

Go MH lights. bulbs last longer and you can find some good deals on bulbs. They last a year or there about and VHO bulbs need changed every 6 months or there about.

In the long run an e-ballast is cheaper on your pocket book and when comparing them to non-e ballasts they run cooler and bulbs also last longer on an e-ballast and use less electricity.
Your VHO will end up costing you 500 or more so when comparing the 2 the e-ballast and bulb is cheaper.]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top