T5 Lighting questions...

D

DeMarcusR

I'm considering using t5s on my 260 instead of the vhos that I have left over from my 75g however I'm concerned about the ballast.

I've read on RC that it is better to run the icecap ballast because they overdrive the bulbs thus creating a brighter light while not decreasing the life expectancy of the bulb. My question is, are the icecap 440 and 660 the same for vho and t5s or are they completely different ballasts?

Also how many bulbs should I go with on my setup. I currently have 4 250 watt halides (2x 10,000k and 2x 14,000k). My overall goal is to be able to keep any coral that I want without having to worry about lighting but at the same time keeping the heat to a minimum.
 
Washingtond,
That's what I wished also and actually decided to go with the T5's even after purchasing the 72" VHO bulbs/endcaps. I hooked up 1 - 48" T5 and 1 - 24" T5 to replace 1 72" VHO. Since I had room for 2 VHO's, I actually have the 2 - 48" T5's staggered with the 2 - 24" T5's. I just finished the canopy and am amazed at the coloration of some of the corals now when just the T5's are on. Another consideration is that I've heard that the 72" VHO bulbs may be harder to get as the breakage during transit is apparently very high. I've only purchased 36/48" VHO by transit, and I picked up the 72" VHO's locally when I thought I was going to use them. Anyway, be sure to consider the IceCap reflector costs for the T5's if you decided. They are *really* bright/reflective with the Alanod (sp) finish on them.
Doug
 
waterbeing, I have had sucess with both the Icecap, and the other reflectors.. and quite frankly its d4mn annoying... I dont know how high you would hang your lights above the tank, but about every 6 months or so i HAVE to take the etire light rack off, diassamble, then repolish the reflectors (billet metal polish and a polishing wheel on a electric drill)where the salt spray has left its mark on both lamps and reflectors. I jsut wipe the lamps with a rag soaked in vinegar.!! Works wonders! 8) but,

PAIN IN THE A$$ :twisted:

You can tell that there is significant loss of light when they are not clean. They lifespan of T5's is the same as MH. Its just that there is not as much of a shift of spectrum, just a dimming of the overall light output. Geissman bulbs have a little more R and D behind them thus a slightly better bulb, but you will pay for it though. When I was starting the switch from MH to T5s the only option for bulbs was the URI brand. They are awesome, however, I will use Geissmans when I switch bulbs this winter.

Also, DO NOT GeT THE 6500 K bulbs, unless you like the Iwasaki look. The 11K are wonderfully crisp, and the actinics optiions have finally settled on their wavelength. The blue+ bulbs are a cross b/w the two. ~14k. I use the VHO acinics, simply because that is all that was available when I started my research. Good luck with your purchase... I will offer any help I can!

Brian
 
T5 bulb life is the same as MH?????
Since when did they make a MH bulb that would go for 12-16+months?? :roll: My setup is going on 7-8 months and its as bright as they were in the beginning.
 
MH do just the opposite as tube lamps, the bulb will burn/last till its filament breaks, easily lasting a few years.. hell there are some bulbs I know of that are more than 5 years old still buring bright!!! (think of old warehouses using 1000W) They shift spectrum and become more intense, to some this is ok, to others like me who bought the bulb for its particular spectrum, it is unwanted... Peter Lin, has been running the same MH for YEARS (I believe), and he has one of the nicest tanks I have seen. No thats not a typo..

On the other hand tube lamps (T5) do not shift color, and just dim over time..
8)
 
@Bpynckel wrote:
MH do just the opposite as tube lamps said:
What you said is true about the actual bulb lasting years upon years. I don't know what kind of bulb the gym's and warehouses use but they seem to get more blue over time, maybe more intense.
I've seen MH bulbs lets say about 6-8 months old that are supposed to be 14k that are now just a plain crisp white light and not as blue as they used to be. Many reefers change the bulb out in 6-8 months because of the unwanted spectrum change.
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And I too was one of those reefers.. My switch to T5's was due in large part to take the $$$$$ out of the equation, or at least cut down the spending.. It was the money, It seemed, that made me have episodes where I would neglect the tank because I simply did not want to know what was going on... "Ignorance is bliss" and I was not ripping up $50's..
:lol:


Back to the topic.. Replacing three 250W bulbs every 8-10 months was simply too expensive.. so, with the money I was going to spend on new bulbs, I bought my entire T5 setup.. Since then my electricity bill is down 20% and the lamps last a little longer! I figured the new T5s would eventually pay for themselves.. and I was right, about twice over now! Growth has stayed the same if not quickened..
 
Bpynckel..... I have had sucess with both the Icecap said:
I would agree that is probably what will happen with ours too and I suspect I'll be doing at least the washing off of the reflectors too. The positives that I've seen are that the Icecap reflects just snap onto the bulb and are easy to rotate/install/remove and I don't think I've ever seen any reflector surface that is quite as brilliant (as least when new. 8) ). I don't know how well they will clean up though and from your experience it sounds like more work than I may be willing to put into it also. Time will tell...(but thanks for the heads up on the billet polishing if I get ambitious) :p

Doug
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I agree with the reflecivity of the Icecaps, but after the first wipe down I noticed that the Icecaps reflectors were just as pitted and after more cleaning seemed to have the same reflection. I do not have acess to a light meter so these are observations by the naked eye. I guess my point is, save the 5 bucks or so and buy the cheaper reflectors, they still snap on and are actually easier to clean. Both reflectors will have rust around the screws in 3 months.. so think about taking a trip to home depot and picking up some Stainless replacments. And remember to by the standoffs.. I had to wait a couple of days because I thought they were included with the $12.00 H2O proof endcaps, SILLY ME :roll:
 
Gathering from the comments everyone has posted thus far,
the overall "Total Cost of Ownership" for t5s far outweigh Halides in terms of Energy consumption, longevity, and cost of replacing the bulbs...

On a larger reef, would it be advisable to completely replace the halides with t5 or run both? I currently have 1000w of halides over my 260, I was thinking of somehow kicking that up between 1500 and 2000 however, that'd be a lot of heat from halides and a lot of energy consumption.
For my paticular application, should I cut back to say 500w of halides and run t5s for the remaining? My goal is to have 8-10 watts per gallon...
 
@djr2001 wrote:
For my paticular application said:
First I must say, HOLY CRAP!!! :shock: Yes, if you are looking to "cut back" I would say that T5's are an option, but I must warn you, It is not going to look anything like 1000W MH. What are the demensions of you tank? In my opinion the better option, if you have a large surface area, is MH ( simply because you get better coverage ). You will be spending a lot more on ballasts/wire/lamps to cover the same surface area if you continue with T5's, if you desire the brightness of the 1000W. Not to mention there is limited room over most tanks to put more than 8 bulbs with their required reflectors, does that make sense? Tell us more about your tank.

However, if you have a typical 24" deep 24" wide reef tank of some length, then I think that T5's are a great replacment, for the reasons mentioned. (cost-upfront/longrun/electricity, longevity of the lamps themselves)
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I assumed your tank was long, and I think T5's will still work. I am also assuming your setup is 4 250W. So I was thinking something along these lines... Color= T5, the Circles are the remaining 250W's. The ones in the back are 48" and the ones in the front are 60 inchers. Its going to be a lot of light, but you could get rid of the final two halides eventually and replace them with T5's later down the road, for a gradual stepdown.
 
first off, if you do decide to go with the setup that Bpynckel suggested, it will be one badddddddd system. You can actually throw in some daylight tubes and keep those on the majority of the day, and have the halides kick in maybe............2-3 hrs?? that would further save money in electricity I would think.

I don't know if icecap has reflectors for 60 inch lights? I have read on RC that the SLS reflectors stain when salt hits it, and they won't wipe off. :roll:
 
@iamquockie wrote:
first off said:
I actually like the idea that Bpynckel recommended. The only change I'd make is possibly run 3 halides then the rest as t5. The only thing that would hold me up on that pal so far is finding someone to build a light rack that could accomodate that many lights. I'd do it myself however, I'm not much of a DIY person.
Also, How many 48in bulbs can be run on an icecap 660? Would it be the same as VHOs or are t5s rated differently? Same with the 60 in bulbs??
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djr201,

You can run 4 of the 48" (54W) T5's on a 660. It will handle up to 16' of T5 in this way. If you run the 80W T5's, the 660 will only handle 3 of them.

Doug
 
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