T5 Lighting

[Strength&Honor]

I recently upgraded to a 90 gallon in which I hope to be able to keep most coral. I am going to be stocking slowly but want to get a light capable of anything now so I dont have to worry about it in the future.

I am still trying despertly to get hold of a 2x250 wat MH setup but the prices are looking un doable right now, so I have turned to T5 setups, but just had a couple of questions.

1) I am trying to decide between a 6 bulb or 8 bulb fixture but havent been able to decide. I know I could keep what I wanted with the 8 bulb but was hoping I could use the 6 bulb and still have the sps and clam capabilites?

2) I have searched for this but couldnt find it. How often do T5 bulbs need to be replaced (Im thinking of running them 6-7 hours a day)? I know spectrum plays a part in bulb life but what is a rough estimate Im looking at?

thats about it I looked for an hour but couldnt find it (and search doesnt work for me) so any help is much appreciated

 

[Krish]

I've read here that the T-5 bulbs have to be changed in less than a year so if you add up replacing 6-8 bulbs in less than a year, it may be cheaper in the long run to run 2 MH bulbs that don't have to be replaced before the year is out. I'm not positive what 6 T-5 bulbs will support, but I'm sure someone here will know. Best of luck

 

[Reefdaddy1]

MH can get Pricey in unit type configs, But going retro maybe your best bet, For the Price of descent unit of T5 you get a real good brand of Retro MH for the same money. PFO pendents and PFO Retro reflectors are very good and wont cost an arm or leg to get them, Check them out!!

 

[jesshimom]

Depends on who you talk to on replacement of T5 bulbs. It is all I have ever used and all I ever plan to. I replace my bulbs about 15 months so far, and have read up to 18 months. I have a 6 bulb Tek light over a 90 gallon and I'm confident I could keep anything in there I wanted to. I like the simple plug and play simplicity of it.

 

[CarlaW]

Colleen, can you separatly control the actinics and daylites on that fixture?