T5 101? what is spectrum&PAR?

Is T5 lighting better than Power Compact?  Or do people just like T5's better do to the wide variety of bulb choices? basically if you had a 10k T5 light, and a 10k PC light, and they both put out 54 watts, they would be equal, and put out the same PAR right?

T5 lighting is slightly more efficiant than a power compact. They would not have the same PAR at the same wattage i believe. HQI is a power hog and not nearly as efficiant as a LED set up. LEDs (iiiif you get the right ones) can be better than any of the others in all aspects but you must do your research and get what is required.

herrera wrote:  just want the t5 101. all that i know is that i need one to grow coral, and anemones. 1. what's the general rule of thumb? how do i determain how many watts i need for my size tank? Too difficult of a question...it would be best to tell me your tank size and what you plan to keep (softies, lps, sps, or mixed)  2. how do i read a spectrum chart? http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/ Go to that link- it will teach you all you need to know about T5s....the author of it is the T5 reef tank expert. 3. what is the par number?   refer to link from Question 2 4. which has the best spectrum, and the most PAR out of HQI,T5, and LED fixures? This depends on the fixture and lamp combinations....some T5 fixtures put out the same par as a quality 400 Metal Halide setup, some Led fixtures put out much more than that....too much PAR can be bad, as far as spectrum goes, Leds are just starting to touch the surface of having full spectrum capabilities, Halide T5 and T5 only fixtures can meet the demands of all spectrum quite easily with different bulb combos.

Oops.. my dyslexia kicked in there.. replace blue with red when you read sections pertaining to wavelengths.

thank you! great info

Oops, i need to read it a few times before posting... The 8000K light will help keep blues in your coral... Because the colors you see is whats being reflected, not whats absorbed. Unless its fluorescing....

the 30-50% helps to extend the LEDs life span. The higher you run them, the faster they burn out. You could get a smaller fixture if you want the same PAR, but you'd run them hotter and decrease their life by running them at full capacity. You can have too much PAR, too much light can harm the coral. Sometimes the coral will expell their zooanthelle (the organisms that live in the coral which are the photosynthetic lifeforms that give coral energy) when its too bright. One explanation is that the coral cannot handle the amount of energy production or they expell it since they do not need as much. This can cause bleaching. So when you get any light source, start at a low output level and increase it slowly over time until you notice your coral retacting soon after you do. I've dont this on my 20 gal setup and as soon as i raise the intensity at all, most coral retract within about 10 min.

Right now i have x2 24"Coralife 65w The bulbs need to be changed. what brand should get for PC?  I don't dare to try making my own LED.

Thank you so much!  AI it is! i'm excited. The only AI sol i can find for $399 is either all white, or all blue. Do you know of a site, that will sell them for that price with 50/50 w/70degree optics?  Also i take it i can't control the density with out purchasing the controller?:/

Edited by herrera - November 24 2011 at 2:44pm

phys wrote: I had some xenia, galaxia and mushrooms live off and grow off less than you have there so for those, if you dont mind slow growth, they should work. The brands i really havent seen a difference in except their lifespan. Just get some 10k Kelvin and an actinic. You'll see people debate on which is better but really, apples to apples, theyd be similar but yea, you may get a bad one here or there. i would suggest the AI LEDs.. They look like they design them similar to how i built mine (led choice that is). If you choose them, do 70 deg optics (since the tank isnt too deep) and the warmer (12000 k) leds. They'll provide better color for coral that weren't taken from deeper waters. You should get a 50/50 white/blue combo instead of their 2w/1b combo. Im not sure but they may be using cree blue leds instead of royal blue. The issue there is the spectral response is at 450-470nm instead of 420nm. The peak sensivity of corals is at about 420nm i believe. The panorama strips use older tech and less powerful LEDs which means they may not last as long and will have to be driven at 100%. They're mostly for filler light in my opinion.

I was going to stay out of this thread until this misinformation was written.

The new Ecoxotic stuff uses CREE LEDs along with some other brands. Did you know that CREE doesn't even manufacture their stuff anymore? They have outsourced it to China and other companies now.

Also ALL (minus the PAR38 bulb) of Ecoxotic's stuff is dimmable if you choose. So you don't have to run them at 100% like stated. The Panorama PRO LEDs are being driven at like 1.7w each and they use 3w LEDs. You do the math.

AIs are the VERY last LED system I would touch. Limited spectrum and I personally don't like optics. They create major hotspots and can easily burn your corals. What are hot spots? Well, the optics focus the light into a given area. Move slightly out of that given area and PAR can drop significantly.

Ecoxotic has a slew of colors to play with as well. Not just white and blue. White and blue has been and always will be a terrible choice for lighting our tanks. It was that way with power compacts, T5's, VHOs and many other types of lighting. Why would LEDs be any different?

MY advice is this, go see some AI LED tanks and decide if that is what you want. You will have to buy the controller if you want any serious type of control over the color.

Go see some other LED lit tanks and see what you think. I will have the new Ecoxotic Panorama PRO fixture here next week hopefully. I already have 3 of the PRO modules and 3 stunners here that I can show you and what each color does for the tank.





Edited by Ryan Thompson - November 25 2011 at 9:31am