T5 vs. MH

[Folta]

It seems many club members are trying to determine what lights to get (myself included). The main debate seems to be whether to get T5's or get MH's. I have personally seen just downright gorgeous setups with great growth under both types of lights. Obviously there are more factors than just light for the health of corals, but it is signficant. Anyway, I'm going to list out the benefits and drawbacks for each type of lighting. Keep in mind that a third option is to use a combination of the two types.

 

Metal Halides

 

Pros:

--Intense light from a point source - higher light corals can be placed more directly underneath while lower light ones can be placed further away.

--Shimmer effect (for those who like it)

 

Cons:

--Produces alot of heat

--Color choice is limited (unless extra fluorescent lighting is used as well) - 10k, 14k, 15k, 20k.

 

 

T5 Lights

 

Pros:

-- Easier to change light color to match what you want, smaller increments of change. (Because of having more bulbs)

-- Light in more areas - less shadows as from a point source of light

-- Less heat

 

Cons:

-- No shimmer effect

-- ...

 

 

 

Ok, so if anyone would like to add any pros or cons, just post and I'll update this first post to reflect your opinions. My hope is to list out as many thoughts about these types of lighting systems for club members to review when researching lights.

[rioreef]

I have a T5 High Output (HO) setup.

 

Pros

-From recent PAR testing, T5s are performing outstanding compared to MH

-Lower operating cost

-Bulbs last longer 12-18 months

-Bulb combo options

-Ability to overdrive with proper ballast

-My maxima and crocea love it on the sandbed of my 90g (24 in tank depth)

-Mushrooms do well in shaded or corner areas.

-Ability to keep any coral from tank inhabitants and discussions on RC. People cry about mushrooms cant take it, I say shade them or put them in the corner. Do not trash the T5s because of the shroom effects.

-Low cap on tank. No tall structure on top to house MH.

-Not a heat issue, no chiller needed. Two small fans and good to go.

-Using IceCap ballast to overdrive, you can mix T5 and VHO (for actinic).

 

Cons

-In April, I set up with dry base coral rock seed with 30lbs of live rock. Since then, purple coraline is growing everywhere except on the top surfaces of the original base rocks. The vertical and shaded area have plenty of it.

-No direct shimmers. Indirect in certain areas (high angle from light source.)

-No good actinic bulb

 

Check out threads on RC a good and long one is here. Lots of pros and cons with various opinions. Take a weekend and read it.

 

CR

[Lee Stearns]

Can you put a T5 on a electronic VHO ballast?

The VHO is supposed to be driving the 4 foot bulbs at 110 watts per bulb.

The T5s are suposed to be 54 watts? Plus I guess the end caps are different- and would have to be rewired if one were to try it.

Xeon- you are one of our resident electronic guys what do you say?

[Guest maestro774]

You can overdrive them. An Icecap VHO ballast runs the 54w as 80w, so I've heard. I plan to upgrade to a 660 when I can scrape the money together.

 

Pros (some have already been mentioned):

- Low profile, can use the factory canopies. Can put bulbs ~3" from the water.

- Fairly cheap

- My SPS love it

- Color is customizable

- Little heat

 

Cons

- No shimmer. I get some shimmer with surface agitation, but nothing like MH.

- Replacing 6 bulbs at once can be expensive

- T5 bulbs are very fragile. Pick one up on an end only and it can break.

[rioreef]

Can you put a T5 on a electronic VHO ballast?

The VHO is supposed to be driving the 4 foot bulbs at 110 watts per bulb.

The T5s are suposed to be 54 watts? Plus I guess the end caps are different- and would have to be rewired if one were to try it.

Xeon- you are one of our resident electronic guys what do you say?

47374[/snapback]

 

 

I am speaking from using an IceCap ballast and if you change the endcaps you can mix the bulbs.

[Folta]

Ooh, nice input already. I'll just let people scroll at this point because some of the comments made are personal to your tanks and me adding them to the main might not sound right (out of context).

 

 

Is there a Tek Light System (T5's only) for a 6' tank?

[xeon]

Lee,

You can certainly run them on electronic ballasts. I don't remember which one you have, but if you had a Fulham WH7 ballast, you could run four 54W HOs off of one ballast. If you mixed and matched a VHO and a T5... you could only run one of each. You would also need end caps to fit each type of lamp.

 

Bascially for every two a ballast might be able to properly light two 4' VHOs(110W), you could use four T5 HOs(54W) in their place. I'm not sure what the power requrements are for T5's but I think VHO's are in the 1.5A range. Haven't really paid much attention to T5's, but they do look interesting.

[Lee Stearns]

Dave,

I have the ARO electronic VHO ballast that runs 4 VHO 4 foot bulbs- Was just curious if I changes end caps on say two of the four bulbs whether I could push the 54watt T5's or if this over drive would just burn through them- how would it affect the other two end caps tied to the ARO ballast and still running VHO's?

I know I know why would you want to do this. S&G

[Folta]

T5 Con:

 

No 6 foot bulb fixtures / bulbs! That is a big problem for those like me who are buying lights for a 180.. especially since I do not want a canopy.

[JMsAquarium]

Dave,

I have the ARO electronic VHO ballast that runs 4 VHO 4 foot bulbs- Was just curious if I changes end caps on say tow of the four bulbs whether I could push the 54watt T5's or if this over drive would just burn through them- how would it affect the other two end caps tied to teh ARO ballast and still running VHO's?

I know I know why would you want to do this. S&G

47383[/snapback]

 

Dave Dhoch runs a mix of VHO actinics and T5s on the same ballast without problems. Many in RC do as well. Theorically you could do it with any VHO electronic ballast as far as your bulb combination (T5 and VHO) does not exceed the ballast wattage and/or footage maxs.

[Larry Grenier]

T5 Con:

 

No 6 foot bulb fixtures / bulbs!  That is a big problem for those like me who are buying lights for a 180.. especially since I do not want a canopy.

47384[/snapback]

 

Folta,

 

The 39W T5's are 34" long so you should be able to put two end-to-end.

[Lee Stearns]

cool- all I have to do is find the t5 end caps and play with it-

[dhoch]

Just A couple of things.

 

The mixing of T5 and VHO... check with your ballast manufacturer first. (for example the A4 IceCAP ballast CAN NOT power T5 bulbs)

 

With IceCAP you can run a mix (I run a 6' VHO and a 5' T5 bulb off one 430 ballast).

 

Also for those that don't like the T5 Actinic, use VHO... I have found 1 VHO bulb takes approximately the same amount of room as a T5 bulb with a reflector.

 

Also Lee, I might have some end caps I could just give you if you are interested (I have 4 pair... want to keep 2, but I could part with the other 2)...

 

 

Folta... Stagger the bulbs that's what I did and it's fine.

 

Another CON: No one in the greater area carries T5 bulbs, so if one burns out you have to have it's replacement shipped in.

 

Dave

[Guest Yomeister66]

What is the "shimmer effect"?

 

 

I've got 2x400W MH (6500K) + 2x140W VHO. What would the T5 equivalent be.....and do they make 5' T5s? My tank is a mix of SPS, LPS and softies.

It sure would be nice to get cooler lights and be able to get rid of the chiller.

 

Thanks,

 

Johan

[Guest Keyoke]

What is the "shimmer effect"?

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Disclaimer: This is a "in a nutshell" Reply.

 

You know when you look at the substrate or floor and it looks like looking into a pool? where the light "shimmers" from darker areas to ligher, depending on the surface agitation?

 

That's the shimer effect.

 

Flourescent bulbs, because they are not "point" light sources, don't produce this effect as well as MH do. By "point" lite sources, I mean that there is one "point" where the light is created/broadcasted from, v.s. a FL "tube"

[dhoch]

Johan,

 

Yes they do make 5' T5s. As for equivalent I don't know if there is an equivalent. The light is different. but 6-8 T5 bulbs would be alot of light over your tank.

 

Dave

[davelin315]

Has the PAR been measured as compared to MH as far as ability to penetrate? I'm going to be either setting up a 30" or 36" deep tank (top to bottom) and would like to optimize my lighting. I've got a couple of 400W HQI ballasts that I was going to use with 400W HQI lighting, but don't have the pendants yet so I haven't gone full in on the idea of MH yet.

[quazi]

I received my T5 system today, here is my take:

 

1) The 48 inch bulbs are 46 inches. That sucks, cause I have my true 48 inch VHOs resting on the top sides of my 55 tank. No mount HW is needed. These guys are going to require mounting on the under side of my hood. A hassle.

 

2) I hate the shimmer effect, so I am very happy with no shimmer.

 

3) The system I bought came as a complete kit, with 2 T5 11,000k bulbs and an integral ballast. I ordered 2 bulbs, reflectors, end caps and mounts from www.Specialty-Lights.com. I was planning to use them with my icecap 430. They called me and told me that they could no longer get the reflectors, so they offered the complete retrofit kit (assembled with ballast) for the same price. The retro fit kit is OK, but I want to overdrive the bulbs, so I may disassemble it and go with my original plan. If that happens, I will have a T5 ballast for trade.

 

The 2 lights with reflectors are much brighter than my 3 VHOs without a reflector. I purchased 3 bulbs from Hello Lights without reflectors 3 months ago. They were advertised as 50/50 bulbs (~10,000k), but came in as what I believe are 6500k bulbs. The internal reflectors would have been helpful, but I thought it was not a big deal. I should have gone with the real 50/50 with internal reflector URI bulbs I have always used. I have complained to Hello lights without any response. They have lost a long time customer. www.Specialty-Lights.com has better prices and very good service. Highly recommended.

 

Ok, back to the subject...

 

4) The 11,000k bulbs are great. Very good color from my perspective. I was planning to use 1 VHO actinic with the 2 11,000 k bulbs due to what I have heard on the boards. I now want to add another 11,000k T5 and reflector to my new setup.

 

As for comparison with MH, I have never owned any. I have been looking to change, but the heat, the height of the cabinet and the shimmer made it a hard choice for me. T5s RULE.

:77:

[JMsAquarium]

Keep us posted will ya? Feed back will be great over the next couple months I am more and more interested in this option.

[PupChow]

Keep us posted will ya? Feed back will be great over the next couple months   I am more and more interested in this option.

47423[/snapback]

 

I went with T5 mainly due to heat. Since the tank is sitting right in my bedroom next to my computer, MH is really out of the question... I am pretty happy with it though, sure I miss the shimmer effect, but so far everything seems happy! (including a Crocea clam on the sand bed of a 30g)

[steveoutlaw]

T5 Con:

 

No 6 foot bulb fixtures / bulbs!  That is a big problem for those like me who are buying lights for a 180.. especially since I do not want a canopy.

47384[/snapback]

 

 

Folta-

Check out this link......it looks to be a 72" T5 HO fixture:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/T5-T-5-HO-Aquarium-lig...1QQcmdZViewItem

[rioreef]

Has the PAR been measured as compared to MH as far as ability to penetrate?  I'm going to be either setting up a 30" or 36" deep tank (top to bottom) and would like to optimize my lighting.  I've got a couple of 400W HQI ballasts that I was going to use with 400W HQI lighting, but don't have the pendants yet so I haven't gone full in on the idea of MH yet.

47409[/snapback]

 

Has the PAR meter testing spreadsheet been updated with the results from Doug's visits in the Leesburg/Ashburn/Sterling/Herndon areas?

 

I know at 18in my PAR with the T5s is almost (in some case more than) double that of 250 MH at the same depth and this is with my lights not in the normal position due to access for the meter testing. My readings were in line with others I have seen on RC.

[rioreef]

Folta-

Check out this link......it looks to be a 72" T5 HO fixture:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/T5-T-5-HO-Aquarium-lig...1QQcmdZViewItem

47436[/snapback]

 

This unit has a width of 8.5 inches, with 8 bulbs, this means there are no individual reflectors. An 8 bulb config with individual reflectors would be more around 19-20 inches wide.

 

The individual reflectors with correct design has a huge impact on the amount of light these things put into the tank. The T5s will still put out the high light, but I am guessing not as much as the same number of bulbs on individual reflectors. Also, if there is no lens cover on the unit the end caps may not be moisture proof, another thing to look for.

[Folta]

I've been giving some thought to doing the dual TEK fixtures. I was talking to someone on reefcentral that has done this, and he gave me a few pictures of his setup:

 

 

 

 

I think it actually looks pretty nice.

[ErikS]

From what I've read (& yes all 30 some pages of the T5 Q&A)

 

T5's are good up to 18", after that not so much (but really, how many tanks are more than that)

 

Can be pricey to light 6'+ tanks = lots of bulbs to replace & when driven hard they do not last the 18 months touted.

 

Can have light bands due to the number of bulbs, takes care to get the look right.

 

Units without individual reflectors have about 1/2 the PAR as those with - the reflectors are vital.

 

IMHO - if you can live without the "shimmer" then T5s are an excellent choice, the compete very well with MH without the associated issues.

 

EDIT - that does look nice, just don't forget to add up the $$$ for bulb changes - that can hurt

 

FWIW - my current plan is to use T5's for "before & after" lighting & only run the MH's for a few hours a day (5?). According to the RC calc it should drop the electric cost by 1/2....AND....no heat issues (MH's aren't on long enough to heat up the tank).