T5 vs MH vs PC vs VHO
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17579
Printed Date: January 06 2025 at 1:42pm Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: T5 vs MH vs PC vs VHO
Posted By: Kozak
Subject: T5 vs MH vs PC vs VHO
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 3:10am
Hello,
I think I'm confused, ??? My basic understanding was that MH was for acro's plus everything else in the blue Ocean, PC and VHO for soft corals or supplemental lighting and T5 is for sump or supplemental lighting. Now I've seen a tank that has T5 High Output that has individual reflectors with happy Acro's in it and people at a fish stores tell me that T5 don't have the same range as MH's so the acro's wont survive very long under T5 HO. Is that true or is someone pulling my chain/leg? Can my old school understanding of light systems be chucked out the door as the new HO systems is doing what only MH could do before? Can someone shine some light on this for me, ? Oh, I like the last sentence, maybe I should be a writer, J/K. I read stuff the sellers/builders claim but I don't think I can believe half of what they are saying because they contradict themselves and each other. So I would like to hear from the experienced consumers. Please help me understand this lighting subject better. thanks Alex
------------- Go 49ers! They might suck but they're still my team and I don't want to hear anything about it. lol
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Replies:
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 8:08am
There are people on this board who are very successful growing acros and clams under MH, VHO, & T5 HO. Each of these can be a good choice depending on your preference. Depending on how many bulbs you have florescent should give you better coverage and more even lighting for your corals (few shadows.) MH being more of a point source of light will give you shimmer lines and some shadowing. This can make it easier to place corals with a wide variety of lighing requirements in an area of light they are happy with. I had 250 watt MH on my 120g with VHO supplements. My next tank will have T5s. YMMV
Mike
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Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 10:46am
I've kept acros under MH and t5. Can't speak for VHO, but both setups I've tried work well. I personally like t5 a lot better but there are pros and cons for both. Currently I run 8 t5's on my 120g and my sps couldn't be happier; well I'm sure they could, but not by adding more light ;)
------------- 60g LPS Cube
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Posted By: Kozak
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 11:14am
Thanks guys this helps a little bit but I'm still not completely clear. I have 175 gallon bow front. I got one 150 W HQI MH in the middle right where it bows out and 72 inch PC across the rest of the tank but I'm thinking of adding two more MH but before I do that I want to check out the T5's. How do you compare the two or how do you know how many T5's you need? For example what would be the equivalent of a 150 W HQI MH? Or can I even compare them that way? Do T5's penetrate as deep as MH? I have T5 for my sump, they are not the HO but my PC's seem much brighter than T5. From my understanding for the T5's to work they have to have individual reflectors, is this correct? What's a good place/store/website to check out the T5's? Can someone please give me some of the pro's and con's of T5's and MH. What's better T5 or PC? If we put individual reflectors on a PC would it out perform the T5? What do you guys think?
Shaggydoo, what type of T5's do you run? Do they have individual reflectors and is that the only light you have on your 120g? Thanks for all your help guys.
------------- Go 49ers! They might suck but they're still my team and I don't want to hear anything about it. lol
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Posted By: Rhine Lenhart
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 12:11pm
you should have made it to Dana's presentation.
Get with adam and see if you can borrow his light meter.
Then i suggest getting more water flow VS Lighting.
I have grown Monti Digi under 4X65w PC's
This is JMO.
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55 Gal Reef.
30 Gal Fuge.
957-9197
2007 presidency
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Posted By: ct79
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 12:51pm
You can't really compare MH and T5's based on wattage. T5's run at a lower wattage. I don't know how many bulbs it would take to produce the same intensity as a 150w MH? Maybe someone can chime in on that one. I would think it is safe to say that T5's penetrate just as deep as MH. That is where the individual reflectors come into play. I have a clam that I keep on my sandbed and it is doing great and my tank is about 24 inches deep. I would never go with PC they are just not efficient. I'm not saying that they don't grow corals,just not that efficient and not as bright.
Along with good reflectors, T5's also need to be cooled to work efficiently. So it is wise to look for a unit that has a fan. As for Pros and Cons, your power bill will definitely go down with T5's. You will get better coverage with T5's (no shadow spots like MH). T5 bulbs have a longer life span then MH. The bulbs will last you about 12-18 months. You will lose that "shimmer affect" you get with MH. With T5's you can mix and match your bulbs to get the best lighting to suit your eyes.
People say that with T5's you get "pastel" like color from your corals but I just haven't seen that with my setup. I think my colors are rich and dark. Maybe my corals look a little pastel and I just don't know it. But I don't have any other T5 tanks out there to compare with. In all honesty, I think it really boils down to preference and how your eyes interperate colors. Because you can get a T5 unit that will grow corals just as well if not better than any MH setup.
I have a 95g and I have an Aquactinics fixture. It has 5 bulbs with ind reflectors and runs at a total of 270 watts. I've had it for about 3-4 months and it has been working great. I have a mixed tank with more SPS and they growing pretty fast and seem to be loving the light as well. I think for your setup you can go with a 8 bulb setup and would do fine. You can go to premiumquatics.com or reefgeek.com for some fixtures.
Sorry for the novel...
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Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 12:56pm
I have got 2 6.5k 2 10k 2 superblues and 2 superactinics. All are on their own individual tek reflectors. It is the only light I have on my 120g and I have plenty of light loving corals that are showing excellent growth. I moved most of my corals from under a 250w 10k double ended mh pendent in an 18G (I know a bit of light overkill but I had the equip so why not).
Most of my corals exhibited signs of light shock/bleaching under initial placement of the t5's.... they all got over it and look better than ever, but I have also noticed the intensity of my t5's has weakened over the first few months. This happens with all lighting types as they 'burn in', but I also do not have any fans running across my lighting and I know t5's especially put out more light when they are cooled down a bit... I do plan on hooking up some fans when I get some time.
Overall I chose t5 over mh because it is much cooler and more efficient. I saw my parents put in 2 250w de mh on their 90 g and they never stopped whining about their electric bill. So I looked for a cheaper option. Also in my last tank I was topping off a gallon a day, and in an 18g that was a bit extreme. Now with my much bigger tank I barely top off 2 gallons a day (some days only one gallon). If you want to come check out my setup give me a call Aaron 598-4060. I'm in west valley/west jordan (live on the border) area.
------------- 60g LPS Cube
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Posted By: ct79
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 1:10pm
What type of corals do you have under that light shaggy?
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Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: April 12 2007 at 2:53pm
I've got 20 or so different varieties of SPS (acros, montis, mille, and a few I'm unclear on), several LPS, and a dozen or so zoas with various other softies. Oh, and I just got a clam in the sandbed that looks good but is too new to call a success. Plus I have an imperator that hasn't bothered the clam yet but everyone tells me is going to eventually (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).
On a side note. One of the biggest benefits to t5 imo is the ability to mix and match bulbs. I like a whiter look to the tank so I put in half and half (blue to white). Others think this is not blue enough but it is extremely easy to change the bulb combo to more of a blue look. In fact I'm probably going to try more blue one day just to mix things up and see if I like the coloration.
------------- 60g LPS Cube
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 13 2007 at 2:12pm
I am a huge fan of URI brand VHO and NO bulbs...
My tank in 2001 with URI NO lighting
The same tank in 2002 with half NO and half VHO run on tar NO and VHO ballasts. Images show 5 months of growth:
Thanks,
Scott
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 13 2007 at 10:44pm
Cool. I was hoping you would see this post Scott.
Mike
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Posted By: Rod M.
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 12:31pm
I've been doing a little studying and research on T5s and CFs.
A 55/65 watt compact fluorescent lamp is the same as a T5 lamp. The CF is just bent over to fit in a smaller fixture package, ie, in a 2'x'2 fixture, you could get 8 55/65 CFs.
The output in lumens for four CFs or T5s is roughly the same as one 250w MH, depending on the type and style of reflectors used. I found a commercial company that claims that a2'x2' - 8 lamp CF fixture puts out the same light as a 2'x2'- 1 - 400 watt lamp MH. The overall effiecency and savings of the CF fixture beats the MH, but maintenence cost may be more with CFs. (Depends on the life of the lamp)
If you look at the nomemclature on a Universal T5 ballast, along with the T5 lamp it shows it will run an FT55w/ 2G11 lamp. FT designates bent tube, 2G11 is a straight 4 pin socket. The type of bulbs we use ( 10k,12k ,actinic, etc) , are specific to our hobby, however the ballasts and sockets are not!
Hope this helps,
------------- Rod Murri
Clearfield,Utah
24g JBJ Nanocube -
90g main/ 30g sump
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Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 5:21pm
now compare the price of four compact fluorescents to the price of one metal halide?
what is the amp draw of 4 CF lamps? amp draw of one 250 watt magnetic ballast is 2.5 amps
when I last added those numbers up I went with MH lamps, For me they were cheaper to purchase and cheaper to run, now I did DIY for one of the ballasts and for one fixture. If one was to purchase the fixture that may change the purchase numbers.
I am interested in running VHO for my atintic lamps though, I believe that the light quality from a VHO lamp would be beneficial for the corals.
I am running one 55 watt CF for that function right now.
(PM me if anyone has any extra 48 VHO ballasts around, maybe we could do a trade or something?)
oh and to be fair we need to be looking at the lumen output also.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature2 - http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature2
------------- Family Portraits /Google trusted Photographer for Google Maps for Businesses
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 6:35pm
I believe the tube diameter on CF tubes is larger than on a T5 also since the CF is bent so the tubes are close together the reflectors are not as efficient at reflecting the light down to the tank. It is also my understanding that CF produce more heat than T5HO. RedSea produce special 55 watt T5CF that have the same diameter as T5s.
Mike
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Posted By: Rod M.
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 8:01pm
Yep.
The amp draw of four FT55W is 1.87a. 4 T5s at 2.01.
http://www.universalballast.com/productLines/ap_sheets/ELFB/B454PUNV-E.pdf - http://www.universalballast.com/productLines/ap_sheets/ELFB/B454PUNV-E.pdf
I could never find any info comparing MH side by side with either T5 or CF for output. The comparison I did find was not actual numbers, but sales statements by manufacturers. However, I went to several lamp manufacturing sites and flipped through spec sheets to check.
GE has a salt water CF listed at a mean lumens of 4080. multiply by 4 = 16320.
http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=RESULTPAGE&CHANNEL=Consumer&CATEGORY=Lamps_Compact+Fluorescent_Plug-In_High+Lumen+Biax%C2%AE_T5&BREADCRUMP=Lamps_Compact+Fluorescent_Plug-In_High+Lumen+Biax%C2%AE_T5 - http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=RESULTPAGE&CHANNEL=Consumer&CATEGORY=Lamps_Compact+Fluorescent_Plug-In_High+Lumen+Biax%C2%AE_T5&BREADCRUMP=Lamps_Compact+Fluorescent_Plug-In_High+Lumen+Biax%C2%AE_T5
When we add the cost of running a chiller or AC to reduce the heat from a MH how would T5/CF compare?
------------- Rod Murri
Clearfield,Utah
24g JBJ Nanocube -
90g main/ 30g sump
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Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 9:56pm
in Utah all we need is a fan and we get the swamp cooler effect, so cooling is no big deal,
lamp price was the killer for me, best 55 w cf price was 35 X 4 = 135 or so mh I guess you could spend that much on a bulb, but one MH was 65
20,500 Lumens for a 250 watt se bulb. @ approx 10k
as far as heat 200 watts of any light is going to produce heat at about some % of that light, I have burned my hands on many a t8 lamp removing it, now for that MH there is no way I would try until it cooled down, but as far as how much heat MH produces vs CF I don't know the answer to that one.
------------- Family Portraits /Google trusted Photographer for Google Maps for Businesses
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Posted By: Rod M.
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 7:53am
Aquatraders online is selling CFs at great prices! I ordered 4 to get them for under $10. With shipping it was around $13 per lamp. Ordered them on Friday, got here Wed. No problems.
------------- Rod Murri
Clearfield,Utah
24g JBJ Nanocube -
90g main/ 30g sump
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 11:14am
I prefer vho personally. My 120 runs 4 110w vho's but no acros. Everything does well. My 125 has 4 110w vho and 3 175w mh. I grow everything I want with out any issues.
------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC)
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 12:47pm
Dion, why do you prefer VHO?
Mike
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 1:03pm
Cost, Light, Trust. Ive ran pc for years, even with MH. I have a t5 set over my 75 and ended up supplementing with pc. I don't like the t5 at all. Its dull and does not have much penetration IMO. It is 3-4 years old and I'm sure technology has come a long way. I still want the shimmer on my reef tank and the sps's don't mind, so it has the MH. I run actinic white and super actinic bulbs and much prefer the look.
------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC)
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Posted By: chris.rogers
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 1:11pm
lamp price was the killer for me, best 55 w cf price was 35 X 4 = 135 or so mh I guess you could spend that much on a bulb, but one MH was 65 |
HelloLights.com has them for $22.
I cannot believe the AquaTraders.com price... $17 per bulb.
------------- Ils sont fous, ces Romains!
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Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 1:38pm
great prices on MH DE lamps, how about some good places for the SE bulbs????
------------- Family Portraits /Google trusted Photographer for Google Maps for Businesses
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 12:06am
I have always been partial to URI VHO and feel you can grow anything under them than you can with MH. IME all coral, especially SPS, look better under VHO than MH, PC, or T5...
I have a 250 watt 14K MH on my sump(just to prove I am not anti-MH ). I grow frags out in the sump but I try to place SPS frags in the display under the VHO. That allows them to get the nice colors before trading or taking to the LFS for store credit. Some of the nicest SPS frags I have ever had were the $5 brown SPS specials. Place them under VHO, good current, alk and CA and watch them color up...
Over all, I think the cost is close to the same. Even if the VHO did cost a lot more, I would still go with them on a display tank.
Thanks,
Scott
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 12:15am
how susceptible are the VHO's to breaking from a splash of water hitting them?
I really want to switch out my actinic CF bulb to VHO probably a blue on one side and a white on the other, but for now what i have is working.
------------- Family Portraits /Google trusted Photographer for Google Maps for Businesses
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 1:17am
I have never heard of a VHO breaking due to a splash. I have had them fall into the tank once but all that happened was the fuse blew on the ballast.
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: faviasteve
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 1:35am
This doesn't seem to be the popular opinion on this post, but I greatly prefer metal halide to VHO or power compact. I haven't used T5 so I can't comment on them. Power compacts are fragile and the a hard bump will crack them. Also, the actinic power compacts aren't as intense as actinic VHO and the color isn't quite right. URI actinic VHOs are great but 10K VHOs aren't intense enough, even if you have a lot of them.
2 250 watt metal halides on a 90 or 120 are so much brighter than 4 or even 6 VHOs to my eye. And I like the glitter lines too. The only thing I don't like about metal halide is the heat and the occasional eye damage.
We're all biased from our own experiences. I've always been drawn to bright SPS tanks... and metal halide is a good way to do that, especially for a larger tank.
------------- Steve Burton
Logan, Utah
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 10:10am
". . .but 10K VHOs aren't intense enough, even if you have a lot of them."
Steve, not intense enough to be pleasing to your eye or not intense enough for certain corals? I find VHO to be very pleasing to my eye and I believe they have enough intensity to keep corals happy too. I am interested in your oppinion.
I do agree that there is no better actinic lighting than URI VHO.
Mike
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 10:55am
Ive never had a vho break. My 120 has them right on top of the tank while I get the hood and stand built. The stingray plays at the top on occasion and splashes them a lot. Lots of salt on the bulbs which I clean off every once in a while but no breakage.
------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC)
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Posted By: acuramech
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 12:42pm
i have two se 250 w metal halides, plus two super actinic and one white vho. i really like the color and growth i get from the combo. i've had my end cap on my vho short out. that got kinda messy.
------------- "TANKLESS"
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 22 2007 at 1:55pm
I had a month of pure bad luck a few years ago when nothing went right with my tank. The worst was when I came home after Thanksgiving dinner my canopy was on fire. My thoughts are that there was a poor connection on one of the end caps which caused the end cap to overheat. I had been in the tank earlier and had moved the lights around. My house was full of black smoke, the tank was full of melted end caps, and the tank was doing just fine...
I would imaging that if any fluorescent bulbs (tube)were to break over a tank that would be the end of the tank due to mercury poisoning.
Thanks,
Scott
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: faviasteve
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 12:10am
Please let me clarify. I've never had a VHO break... that would be horrible.
I think VHOs have plenty of intensity for softies and LPS. Some SPS don't "color up" as well, in my experience, if they aren't under metal halides even though they can still be healthy with good polyp extension under less light. For example, my brown monti cap with a purple rim will lose the purple rim and become solid brown under 4 X 96 watt power compacts on a 90 gallon, but has a beautiful purple rim under 2 X 250 watt XM 10K metal halide on a 90 gallon.
I've had two PCs break in the narrow piece of glass that connects the two tubes. I don't think anything escaped but they wouldn't light anymore. Also, the small piece of plastic that acts as a spacer between the tubes always falls out after a few months use, making them more fragile.
I've had one PC fail for no reason. Another one got a blackened end and failed and a third arced inside the endcap, burned the encap up and almost started the canopy on fire.
If you guys are having good success with PCs or VHOs, that's great. I've just had better success with SPS and clams and anemones with XM 10K metal halide.
------------- Steve Burton
Logan, Utah
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Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 2:42pm
MHs are bright but so is a full rack of t5's. I nearly blind myself every time I have to open my canopy. I went from 250w mh over an 18" tank to t5's over a 24" tank. I was able to keep sps in all levels of my old tank and so far I am seeing good growth and much better coloration in my sps, again at all levels even down to the sand. MH and t5 ime are great choices for corals needing lots of light and probably the biggest determining factor is the look (for most). PC's on the other hand stink ime. I couldn't keep anything under my pc's and would lose coloration on just about everything from zoas to the couple sps I tried up top.
------------- 60g LPS Cube
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 4:22pm
Back when I had my 120 up, I used 4 65 watt PC to light my sump. The only real bad thing I have to say about PC bulbs is that tey are not very durable. Due to the configuration of the sump, the bulbs layed on top of the sump and were not mounted. When I needed in the sump, I would move the lights out of the way. This probably didn't help. They would break either between the tubes or where the connector and the bulb meet.
I basically have the same thing with my VHOs they just lay on top of the tank and I move them around as needed to get access. But other than the fire I had a few years ago I haven't had any issues with the bulbs breaking in any way.
I have yet to see an SPS have better color under MH than under a VHO tank set up the GARF way... There are a couple of hobbyists here in the Boise area that have SPS tanks with that crappy MH lighting . We swap frags a lot and I would say the frags look as good if not better in my tank than they do in theirs...
As far as clams go, that is about the only thing I can think of that would do better under MH.
Thanks,
Scott
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 4:35pm
I think that lighting is only one factor in what determines a corals color, water flow and placement of the coral, has just as a important factor IMHO.
I want to switch to VHO, for the supplement lighting needs of the tank, I think that the corals would do better with more than 55 watts of light from a CF bulb, and that VHO is a better light source than CF. but that also will push me into the 650 watt range for the entire tank when all are on.
decisions decisions, its only money right
------------- Family Portraits /Google trusted Photographer for Google Maps for Businesses
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Posted By: GARFVolunteer
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 5:26pm
bbeck4x4 wrote:
I think that lighting is only one factor in what determines a corals color, water flow and placement of the coral, has just as a important factor IMHO.
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I could not agree more. IMO, calcium, alkalinity, current and food comes before lighting. I always tell everyone that I grow my brown corals under a 250 watt MH in my sump and put them in the display under VHO to color them up. Don't tell anyone but what I intentionally leave out is, that compared to the flow in the display, the sump current volume is very low.
I think I have figured out how to increase the current in the sump and save space at the same time. Just got to set it up once the soft corals currently residing in the sump have attach to the rubble.
Thanks,
Scott
------------- President Idaho Marine Aquarium Society
A fair and biased reef hobbyist
"How do you make poor people rich by making rich people poor" Rush Limbaugh on Obama taxes
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Posted By: kgwilliams
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 10:00pm
I'm so glad that you started this post! I was just on ebay bidding on a retrofit VHO kit! I have a 75 gal tank and right now I have a 150 MH and 2x96w CF. I have some SPS in there but I think they would like some more light. So now I have to ask a question, what does URI mean? Is this just a type of VHO or what? I don't anything about T5's or VHO other than they are better in some ways than CF's. Would a 150 MH and 440w of VHO look good?
------------- 75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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Posted By: acuramech
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 10:41pm
i do beleive that uri is the brand of vho bulb.
------------- "TANKLESS"
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 23 2007 at 10:50pm
Yes. URI is a brand name.
Mike
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Posted By: kgwilliams
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 5:49pm
Okay, that makes sense! lol Well I'm still winning the bet so maybe I will be going VHO!
------------- 75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 10:03pm
Without reading everything above, I would like to say I run MH, VHO, and PC's I like all of them for different reasons. I like MH for the "punch", and the shimmer in the tank. I like the VHO's and PC's because it's easy to vary the look of the light on the tank, but mixing different tempurature bulbs, and I feel both are adequate for anything I'm growing. (By the way, I think there are few if any coral that can't be grown under them.)
For PC bulbs the best deal I've found was from an e-bay store. I can't even remember which now, but I got 12 bulbs for $78 plus $12 shipping. I was skeptical about their how good they would be, but I haven't had any problems with them and I've been burning 8 of the for over a year.
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Posted By: z28xtreme
Date Posted: May 17 2007 at 8:31pm
i love my t5 setup. i dont run a canopy and suspend the lights from the ceiling and it runs pretty cool. only complaint is it doesnt have the MH shimmer.
------------- Patrick
Roy, UT
75g reef
30g sump
mag 9.5 return and two seio 1500's
tek T5 8 lamp/432watt
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: May 17 2007 at 9:33pm
How about some pictures
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