T-5 > Pc

[redpaulhus]

Right now I'm running 160w of normal output full spectrum bulbs on my 55g planted tank (two 5000k daylight, two 6500k super daylight).
Plant growth is good, but I'm about to cut back the lighting (adding another tank this weekend, with twin 250w halides plus actinics ).

I was thinking that the t-5's might give me more PAR per watt and allow me to cut my wattage down to maybe 108w on that tank.
I run just DIY co2 on that tank (yeast reactor) and mostly keep swordplants and val in there, so I don't need super-bright lighting (its more of a fish breeding tank than a show tank, I just like the plants in there).

 

[Mini4x]

I have that AGA strip if you want to give it a shot, I think it has 6500 or 6700k GE bulbs, that were fairly new but have been in my basement for over a year.

Might not be cost saving wattage wise but 4F32's are 128w output (in theory)..

 

[Jill & Brian]

Check reefgeek.com and look at the sunlight supply retros or the ice cap SLR retros. You want to run individual reflectors with the t-5 lamps to get the maximum efficiancy from them. The ice cap retros are more expensive because of the ballast, but you would get more light even with a standard HO ballast.

-Brian

 

[redpaulhus]

I have that AGA strip if you want to give it a shot, I think it has 6500 or 6700k GE bulbs, that were fairly new but have been in my basement for over a year.

Might not be cost saving wattage wise but 4F32's are 128w output (in theory)..

Thanks but I'm all set - I've got piles of un-used equip in my fishroom right now - 4x96w PC fixture (needs work), 2 or 3 48" striplights, 1 or 2 twin tube 48" striplights, 5 or 6 twin tube 48" shoplights (I usually use these instead of strips), probably 7 or 8 20" striplights

I'm just trying to decide how I want to shuffle tanks, racks, and wattages, and trying to decide if I want to try turning the 4x96w fixture into two 2x96w fixtures...

 

[redpaulhus]

Check reefgeek.com and look at the sunlight supply retros or the ice cap SLR retros. You want to run individual reflectors with the t-5 lamps to get the maximum efficiancy from them. The ice cap retros are more expensive because of the ballast, but you would get more light even with a standard HO ballast.

-Brian

Perfect, Thanks !

 

[Greg Hiller]

>From my personal experience, I switched from 4- 96W PC bulbs to 5 - 54W with individual reflectors. Even with a drop of 114W, the t5's are considerably brighter than the pc's. My wife started complaining that they were too bright <

My only question here is how old were the PC's? When I change out just about any old bulb I see a difference. I'm not doubting your results, I just like to see numbers before I make conclusions.

 

[Duds]

Check reefgeek.com and look at the sunlight supply retros
-Brian

are they sunlight retros or are the tek, in the description it says wiring sunlight and other stuff tek What is it? is sunlight good?, Would icecap retro be better in comparison to the other one (on reefgeek.com)?, Which would be cooler because it will be going in a canopy?
Thanks
Duds

 

[RichConley]

>From my personal experience, I switched from 4- 96W PC bulbs to 5 - 54W with individual reflectors. Even with a drop of 114W, the t5's are considerably brighter than the pc's. My wife started complaining that they were too bright <

My only question here is how old were the PC's? When I change out just about any old bulb I see a difference. I'm not doubting your results, I just like to see numbers before I make conclusions.

Greg, PCs are just T5 bulbs bent into silly shapes. They both put out the same lumens per watt/etc. The big difference is its a lot easier to build an effective reflector for a single thin tube than it is for a powerquad. You also lose a good 20-30% of the light from PCs in the light bouncing off, or going into another part of the tube.

 

[willray]

mini4x,
even white will relect a lot of light.and I use my glass covers also 'cause my light are onlt 3" above the tank.
esotric,
I went with the 5's becuase of space limitations.been in use several months and I have seen many setups with halides and for cost of bulbs,bulb life,wattage use,.....I have no regrets.
I'm useing the reefgeeks 4 light icecap setup overrdriving them at 84 watts ea. w/ relectors and it sooo,much brighter than the 260w pc it replaced.As for temp they area little cooler than pcs.
BTW Wrassfan was a t5 gura when it first came out.

 

[dz6t]

I think Tek light from Sunlight Supply is over-driven the HO t-5 bulbs. The bulbs themself are significantly brighter than the same bulbs driven by another HO t-5 ballast let alone the individual reflectors.

For some freaking reason, my 4x39w t-5 Tek light is brighter than a 250w MH (AB bulb, ReefOptic III+ pendant and Icecap e-ballast).

 

[SMS76]

I don't have any hard data to support but i got 4x54Watt T5 with individual reflectors and it looks much much brighter then PC and my tank is 31" high. So far all softies and LPS i have are doing really good. It is not as bright as MH but it seems very bright then PC that i used to have. My PC bulbs weren't that old.

I think having individual reflectors make a huge difference with T5's. Also life of the bulb is much longer then PC if you don't overdrive them.

 

[eSoteric]

i have yet to see a T5 tank. However i do understand the options you have with t5's so many more color options.

 

[Jill & Brian]

My only question here is how old were the PC's? When I change out just about any old bulb I see a difference. I'm not doubting your results, I just like to see numbers before I make conclusions.

Greg, The PCs were 3 months old, and i had not seen much dimming of the lamps (although it is unlikely that I would notice gradually over 3 months)

I agree that hard data would give a true answer, but I have no way to measure so I can only use qualitative judgement as my guide at this time.

-Brian

 

[Jill & Brian]

are they sunlight retros or are the tek, in the description it says wiring sunlight and other stuff tek What is it? is sunlight good?, Would icecap retro be better in comparison to the other one (on reefgeek.com)?, Which would be cooler because it will be going in a canopy?
Thanks
Duds

From what I understand, the sunlight retros do not overdrive the bulbs. The Icecap retros, on the other hand, do.

The sunlight retro would likely run cooler as the bulbs are not overdriven, but you will get more light out of the icecap retro.

-Brian

 

[Duds]

hmm I will probably go with the sunlight then
Thanks
Duds

 

[RichConley]

mini4x,
even white will relect a lot of light.and I use my glass covers also 'cause my light are onlt 3" above the tank.

Sanjay Joshi(lighting geek) did a test on a bunch of reflectors, and their effectiveness. He used a white hood as a benchmark base value, and it was somewhere around 30% as effective as the worst reflector tested.

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Greg, PCs are just T5 bulbs bent into silly shapes. <

Ah...thank you. Makes sense.