Lighting question

[uriah]

I am trying to deside between a regular 48' T5 fixture or power compacts. My tank has no coral yet, but i plan to put in a variety of almost everything except sps. (lps, zoes, a few mushrooms and some softies) Can anyone give me some pro's and con's?

55g w/ live rock/ sand
15g fuge w/ 24" power compact (mix of algea, ruble, live sand and pods)
no fish/ coral

[Troutmasters02]

IMO your better off with T5 lighting. I suggest spending some time and find yourself some nice bulbs that will cover the majority of the color spectrum. :shades:

[uriah]

the power compacts im looking at are 15k 55w bulbs w/ 2 reg and 2 atinics. nice fit for my tank also, covers the whole tank about 3 inches off the water. Can you give some specifics why one would be better than the other? (not just price :))

[blindside]

LOOK AT SOME TEK T5 AND GEISMANN BULBS NICE COLOR BULBS

[ErikH]

IF YOU HAVE THE CHOICE, DO NOT GO POWER COMPACT OVER T5.
Never skimp on lights or filtration. You will end up rebuying these items later!

Power compacts start to lose their effectiveness at 3 months, where as T5 is 18 months. Power compacts are hot, and use more electricity as well. T5s are used on alot of reef tanks overseas, some tanks are purely T5 driven. You really won't find that with power compacts.

THE BEST setups you can buy for T5 are the ones with individual reflectors. Tek or Icecap Reflectors are the best in the biz. Icecap makes the best ballasts for T5s as well. A retrofit kit is the way to go if you have a canopy, since if a part breaks, it is easily fixed. An all in one fixture could have a failure that leaves the entire set of bulbs dead, and fixing that is much more intensive.

My tank is a 75 which is 48" and I use a combo of 6 T5s and 2x250w DE Metal Halides

[ErikH]

Here we go:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=8179491#post8179491

Power Compacts
Similar to Compact Fluorescents, these have a wide variety of sizes, wattages, shapes, colors, etc. They are often what beginning aquarists are told to use.

Abbreviation: PC
Starter: Usually a Ballast located off of the bulb
Heat: Moderate. These can become quite hot and can burn you. But, their heat is still pretty minimal.
Depth: About 18"-20" before their usefulness fades
Height: About 1"-4" off the water surface
Lifespan: About 8 moths to 1 year.
Common Livestock: All. Generally Soft Corals, LPS, Zoanthidae, and Corallimorphians, but occassionally SPS and Clams
Sample Lighting
Length: 3ft Power Compact
Wattage: 96 Watts
Output: 2,250 Lumens
Cost: About $10-$30 per bulb

T5
This is also a relatively new lighting system on the market and has proven to have great success. The name is a little misleading though. While it does state the size of the bulb, T5, it doesn't state that T5's are almost always T5 High Output. To utilize these bulbs effectively, adding a parabolic reflector is almost essential. It helps focus the light enough to make it comparable to metal halides.

Abbreviation: T5, T5HO
Starter: Ballast
Heat: Minimal. It does produce heat, but not much. Bulbs can usually be touched after they have been on for several hours.
Depth: Quite Deep. About 24"-30" before it starts to get without reflectors. With reflectors, depths of greater than 36" have been reported.
Height: Usually inches off the water. Occassionally up to 6" off the water.
Lifespan: About one year.
Common Livestock: All. Many people are having great success. Occassionally some of the animals that like dimmer lighting are caught in the crossfire to appease other corals.
Sample Lighting
Length: 4ft T5HO Fluorescent Bulb with individual Parabolic Reflector
Wattage: 54 Watts
Output: 5,000 Lumens (focused light)
Cost: $15-$25 USD

[uriah]

Thanks for the input. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I dont have a canopy, but I may be able to make one or have one made for me. I almost have my filtration right where I want it and I am a firm believer in doing things right the first time. Once I have all my setup complete ill look into slowly building up my reef.

[ErikH]

If you want to get serious, you can overdrive the T5s with icecap 660 ballasts. You should run fans in the canopy as well as it will help keep the life of the bulb. You should see up to a 20% increase in PAR by doing so.

If you get an all in one, I would get one like this..... (http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Sunlight_Supply/Tek_Light_Fixtures/48_inch__8x54W_Tek_Light_T5_High-Output_Fixture_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply)

That price is w/o bulbs. For a good bulb combo, send a PM to GrimReefer on RC.
OR go to this article (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?threadid=1384575&perpage=25&pagenumber=38)

I found this there..

Posted by The Grim Reefer on 07/10/2008 02:41 AM:


quote: Originally posted (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12904488#post12904488) by BWilfong
Hey Grim,

Thats only a 7 bulb config, hoping to get 8 using IceCap reflectors. Need a good 8 bulb config with Fiji Purples.

Thanks
****, my bad

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
Fiji Purple
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

Here's a Tek VS Icecap Reflector Comparison (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1112777&perpage=25&pagenumber=1)

[LoneStar]

Just remember, if you overdrive t5 bulbs, they will only last half the life span of a non-overdriven t5 bulb. ~9-10 months vs 17-18 months.

[uriah]

do i need to override the bulbs if im not housing any sps or clams??

[uriah]

BTW- nice tank scorpiNO, I saw your slide show:wink_smile:

[LoneStar]

do i need to override the bulbs if im not housing any sps or clams??

No, not really. If you plan on LPS & zoas, you really don't have to.

[coraline79]

you don't even need to overdrive them if you are housing any livestock(SPS or Clams). It's amazing. I have it over 2 of my 3 tanks right now, and the color is just unbeatable for the price. I run 2 48 inch actinics and 2 175 metal halides over my 125(relatively low lighting), and I couldn't be happier witht the T5's. I think I would go all t5's if I find a good deal on that setup.

[Robb_in_Austin]

T5 all the way.

A DIY inside a canopy is probably the least expensive way to run them.

If you want a fixture, I'd suggest the Aquactinics TX5 over the Tek unit. The TX5 has cooling fans built in which make for a more efficient unit. They are a bit more expensive though. The Current nova extreme pro units get good reviews too.

Or you could splurge on a ATI powermodule!

In addition to reefgeek.com, check out DIYreef.com.