T5 question

[jnguyen4007]

Does anyone know if T5 can be used in tank with height of 24" that contain a mix of sps and lps corals? Also, do you happen to know the average lifespan for them before they need to be replace if they run for 10-12 hours/day?

 

James

[ChrisTran]

I use T5s on a 27" tall tank with sps and clams on the bottom. I run mine about 11hrs a day and i guess they are good for 12 months.

[BowieReefer84]

Does anyone know if T5 can be used in tank with height of 24" that contain a mix of sps and lps corals? Also, do you happen to know the average lifespan for them before they need to be replace if they run for 10-12 hours/day?

 

James

 

get reflectors as well with the T5's

[gmubeach]

I know nothing about t-5s but I hear their cooler then metal halide and warmer then leds so you need a fan but not a chiller.... also if your going to mount them alot of people use a device that will kick them off if they start overheating your tank

[treesprite]

I use T-5s on my 24" tall tank, and have SPS frags down on the bottom doing fine.

[gmubeach]

Forest I waited up all night where you been!

[Origami]

Does anyone know if T5 can be used in tank with height of 24" that contain a mix of sps and lps corals? Also, do you happen to know the average lifespan for them before they need to be replace if they run for 10-12 hours/day?

 

T5's have been shown to work just fine in tanks that grow a variety of corals, including SPS and LPS. Having good reflectors is very important.

 

Sanjay Joshi had a good article on several lighting technologies here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

 

Overdriven T5's are efficient insofar as PAR per Watt is concerned, but so are T5's and, now, LED's. The lifespan in our application of T5's depends partly on how hot an environment they run in. (And they do generate heat - don't let anybody tell you they don't - it just has to be removed. You can generally get anywhere between 6 months and a year of good performance out of them before replacement. With the mix of different colors and spectra of T5's out there, you have a lot of flexibility to tailor the "look" that you're going for. Because fluorescent bulbs have diffuse light, you lose the "shimmer" that you get from intense point-sources like metal halides, though.