T5 Lighting recommendation

[fbacungan]

Hi Reefers,
I was reading the Tank of Month from Reef Central. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-07/totm/index.php

What anAwesome reef tank!!

He switched from two 250watt MH ligting to T5 lighting and still maintained a beautiful tank.

Does anyone have any suggestions on reasonably priced T5 lighting and brands? Anyone have any success on DIY t5's?

Thanks.

 

[returnofsid]

I have T5s on my 75 mixed reef. I keep quite a bit of SPS and all are very happy. T. Derasa and T. Croceas are also very happy, as is my Sebae Anemone. My lighting is the Tek 5 fixture by Sunlight Supply (6 bulbs). I would suggest http://www.reefgeek.com/
Greg is very helpful and one of our sponsors here on RF!!

 

[Dieselbreath]

I have T5s on my 75 mixed reef. I keep quite a bit of SPS and all are very happy. T. Derasa and T. Croceas are also very happy, as is my Sebae Anemone. My lighting is the Tek 5 fixture by Sunlight Supply (6 bulbs). I would suggest http://www.reefgeek.com/
Greg is very helpful and one of our sponsors here on RF!!

I agree with what roturnosid says. I have the same fixture on my 125 and have only had one issue. One of the ballast took a vacation.... Sunlight supply air mailed a replacement out, quickly!! I love the lights and the drop in power consumption.
DB

 

[bbehring]

I use a T5 MH hqi combo unit. When I build my next tank, I'll either go all T5 with an ATI Powermodule or LED. I may still look to switch my T5/MH fixture out this next year for all T5? Still debating on that one. I don't have a chiller, but in the heat of the summer, my evap fans run quite a bit.

If you have the buks go with the ATI Powermodule unit.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/ATI/Powermodule_Fixtures/

 

[luke33]

Depends on the size of your tank. If its a 55g a 4x54w with individual reflectors works well, 75g 6x54, 125g works great with 4 or 6x60" retro.

 

[Electrokate]

Do you guys have a bulb preference for T5 HO? Since they last so long I don't want to buy one that will not really cut it especially for actinics. My corals are beige with my current lighting. Growing like mad but pretty dull.
Thanks,
Kate

 

[jezzeaepi]

Just use a mixture of quality bulbs from ATI, giessman, and UVL(and im sure theres a few more). Get a few "true actinic's," a few blue ones then a 12-13k or s to even it out. Each bulb only has 3 "peaks" in their output spectrum, so by using multiple bulbs you can insure you hit more "peaks" in the blue/purple/green/orange/red spectrums and highlight your corals better.

Peace

 

[Skimmy]

i personally think that the true actinic t5 bulbs are total crap and a waste of space in any fixture...i would focus more on the blue bulbs and not the true actinics...
here'a a pic on my tank with 3 blue bulbs and one 6500 daylight bulb,
i use nothing but geissmann bulbs.

 

[Sculpin]

My hood is too shallow for MH lighting. Would T5 lights fit in the same space as compact fluorescents? Looking online, most of the pictures show T5 systems hanging above tanks from cables or mounts.

Also, since I don’t have MH lights, I’ve never been able to add clams to my tank. Is it possible to keep clams healthy in T5 lights?

 

[jezzeaepi]

i personally think that the true actinic t5 bulbs are total crap and a waste of space in any fixture...

Why is that? I respectfully disagree.

 

[jezzeaepi]

Sculpin-
What size tank and how many bubls were you planning on using?

 

[Sculpin]

Sculpin-
What size tank and how many bubls were you planning on using?

I've got a 120 gallon tank (about 6 feet wide, 3 feet deep), and I'm not sure how many bulbs I would use. I currently have 4 CF bulbs lighting my tank.

 

[Electrokate]

Having used both T5HO and PC I can say you would be far better off with T5HO (not t5 NO-normal output-which are ok for freshwater but not reef tanks). PC bulbs will work well the first few months, then turn your corals brown, and after a year they are garbage, at which point they go pollute a landfill. T5 last up to 3 years, cost less, grow and glow the coral, and then they go in the landfill and pollute the earth. Theoretically all flourescents are recyclable, does it really happen? Anyways, you can grow acros, clams and anything else with T5, under PC they will languish. There are of course other variables such as calcium and feeding to this but if you think you might want hard corals and clams set up for that, don't waste time and money on PC. Some think the industry will pull PC units soon as T5 catches on, would not be surprised.

I have heard the actinics got better with the newer versions of T5 HO, is that not true? Has anyone done comparitive analysis of the various brands like has been done with halides? I have definitely seen the actinic t5 bulbs work better than PC actinics if you can judge them by flourescing of the corals' pigments, but is that all there is to actinics?

I am presently using a 4 bulb light with 2 6500K bulbs, a URI actinic blue (weakly flourescing) and a URI actinic white, which actually is pink and ugly. So am thinking of using a 1200K bulb and 2 quality actinic blues, leaving one 6500K for growth. I think it was a Skimmerwhisperer post that turned me onto the 6500K experiment and it definitely does work, thank you... but now the corals are too big so I want to see what will change if I were to use a more typical bulb choice. Will color improve? Will growth slow? I have 2 unused 6500K bulbs to make the experiment fair-all bulbs will again be brand new. These corals were under a different array of t5HO colors a year ago and had incredible color. Now that I need to thin them out and that means selling... I need their color back.

and I like experiments. am hoping some of the serious scientists who can do legit experiments will do a comparative analysis of T5HO products that the rest of us can use... that would be great. Meanwhile guess I will check out giessmans.
Thanks,
Kate

 

[jezzeaepi]

Err thers no such thing as a 6foot by 3 foot 120g tank, so I dont know what to tell you. If its a standard tank and not a "high" version(which it couldnt be if its 6 feet long, yet you say its 3 feeet deep?) then Im sure you could keep anytihng you wanted with a 6 bulb retro kit.

 

[jezzeaepi]

You can compare two t5 bulbs using the published spectrums. This will tell you what color a majroity of the bulb will be and where its spectral peaks are. The more spectral peaks you hit, the more visible colors you will see from the corals. This is the main reason why T'5s are often thought to "look" better then MH.
MH's have higher peak intensities that tend to wash out the other colors where as the T5 bulbs are much more balanced in their intensity output.

As far as PAR is concerned, thats another story entirely. Honestly, if just PAR is what your looking for, T5's are not your answer. They will never beat MH. If you want the most par out of a t5 setup, use all 6500 bulbs(or ATI sunpro's if you want to be a baller). By doing this though you give up the greatest benfit of the t5's in that they allow you to customize your light color.
Here are par readings that were found by a member on RC:
ATI

Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137

D&D/Giesemann

Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157

UVL

Aqua sun 345
Actinic White 293
Super Actinic 210

AquaZ

Sun Pro 285
Ocean Pro 323
Blue Pro 266

Helios

Daylight 309
Super Blue 225

Current Sun Paq

Daylight 10K 272
Blue 252

GE Daylight 340

Thread where these came from:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=918935&highlight=bulb+PAR+reading


So as you can see, while true actinics tend to put off less par, the UVL SA pulls 210 par which is exceptable imo. It has a unique spectral output and I would not leave one off my fixture.

Peace,
Jesse

 

[Sculpin]

Err thers no such thing as a 6foot by 3 foot 120g tank, so I dont know what to tell you. If its a standard tank and not a "high" version(which it couldnt be if its 6 feet long, yet you say its 3 feeet deep?) then Im sure you could keep anytihng you wanted with a 6 bulb retro kit.

My mistake, I just pulled out the measuring tape and it's 6 feet wide, 19" deep and 21" high. I thought it was deeper because it's pulled away from the wall to allow room for the plumbing in the back.

 

[Electrokate]

Thank you, par is not my only consideration but that is very very helpful. I am wishing I had written down which bulbs were on the tank before I started my experiment, that was when my tank was at Susie/Tangee's house with Vickie's borrowed fixture, and the color was amazing. Night and day vs what I have now. It was not like the coral faded, they literally were green and a few hours later beige, so it is the bulb.
Also wish to verify what Skimmerwhisperer said about the actinics being bogus. He is right on so many things, I had hoped that was a dead rumour.
I will try that bulb you recommend, the UVL SA.
Sorry to hijack the thread, hope I am contributing rather than distracting I think T5 sounds perfect for this tank as it will fit in a smaller space, provide for a variety of photosynthetics, give good value for your money and electric bills and last longer. However I do not know if they are as good on a deep tank. That may be moot in practical terms if you place your low light stuff on the bottom and the highest need critters at the top of your rock structure. Which would be normal. Me, I have bleached my best shrooms with T5's even on the bottom in the corner so a taller tank may be in order.
Thanks,
Kate

 

[jezzeaepi]

In that case the 6 bulb retro would allow you to keep just about anything anywhere in the tank imo, just double check to make sure it would fit. If you went with a 4 bulb retro, you could still do anything, youd just have to place them about half way up the rockwork.

Peace

 

[Skimmy]

Why is that? I respectfully disagree.

well cool, that's the great thing about t5's, that you can have whatever look you wish. i just hate the look of those crappy low par "true" actinics...
i find that i get much more flourescence off of the giesmann actinic plus(a blue bulb, not really actinic) as compared to any of the "true" actinic bulbs.
some people prefer the look of the dimmer more purple bulb, i prefer a bluer looking higher output bulb.
granted,i 've never bought or used the UVL true actinic, but i didnt care for their bulbs the one time i saw them in use.

 

[jezzeaepi]

That is true, everyone likes their colors different. I dont like the color of them on their own either, only when mixed with other blues. Even though they dont put off a ton of light, I can tell when they arent on because I see a little less red/purple.

PEace