Join T-5 club
- Thread starter thanhreef
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WELcome GROUPER!!!! Remeber that once it is installed you get the distinct privelidge of adding Club T5 to your sig.
What corals do you wanna keep? What color of tank are you kinda wanting?
If you really wanna do some reading you can check the RC T5 thread. It is long, but full of info.
What corals do you wanna keep? What color of tank are you kinda wanting?
If you really wanna do some reading you can check the RC T5 thread. It is long, but full of info.
Alright I have to pose this question, I currently run 325 watts or power compact which is essentially the same thing as t-5's but are made in a u-shape. What are the advantages of going to t-5's which I have considered besides the heat issues.
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PCs dont have reflectors. So much of the light is wasted. T5s are only qualified to be suberb if they have good reflectors. Otherwise, they will too, lose a lot of light. You can pack a lot more T5s in ahodd than PC, and T5s can be overdriven.
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But T5s still stink!! HA!
Hate to tell you this but I have same type of reflectors on my compacts as t-5's so that argument is out the door. As far as t-5's stinking tell that to the customers of my electrical firm that I replace the M.H.'s with t-5's they will have a nice argument with you. I replace 3 400 watt MH's with 1 6 lamp t-5 get more light at 1/3 of the power consumption. But back to the power compact vs t-5 setup in a tank if I have good reflectors where is the advantage except for heat.
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I hate to tell you this, but you dont have the same reflectors. Good T5 refelctors will be individual to each bulb, and will reflect the majotiy of the light. Reflectors for PC cannot conceivable do this (due to the bend), and even furthermore, I have never seen a good reflector for PCS. So, my argument is still quite IN the door. Look it up. It has been exhaustingly detailed. Individual, high quality reflectors are what makes T5s so useful. If you really think that your PCs are comparable, you are fooling yourself.
Regarding your T5 vs. MH statement, you are comparing apples and shoelaces. I was just poking a little fun, but if you want to get into it, MH "efficiency" relies on what type of ballast you are considering. You say 6 T5 bulbs "produce more light". How so? Using what measure? What size/wattage bulbs? I would argue ABSOLUTELY that my 400 watt MH will produce "more light" than a T5 fixture. I can give you PAR numbers to back it up to. 1" under the water, directly under my 400 watt, the PAR is over 1500. What is it for a T5 fixture?
Panda didn't pose this question to start an argument but do love a good discussion, having been in the electrical field for 40 plus years (yes I'm dating myself) and working with "GREEN" (I hate that term) lighting for a couple of years now you can throw me all the par numbers etc. you want. The reason t-5's can replace 3 400 watt MH's is due to there reflectors and they way they cast light (by the way 6 x 54 = 324). Now I will say light does react differntly in water (gee learned that becoming a master dive instructor) than it does on land. T-5's have their limitations but not nearly the limitations of a metal halide fixture. For one find me an actinic MH bulb and a second point put a thermometer next to a MH ballast or lamp versus t-5's. For the most part everyone loves to talk about the shimmer of the MH fixture and that is because the initial 1" of water where all the movement is causing light refraction that gives the shimmer but you also have substantial shadowing with MH's that you won't have with t-5's and that is because if you have a 48" long tank you have 47.5" long lamps so you get equalized lighting across the tank, you lose the shimmer because you don't have the initial concentrated light that you get from a single MH bulb that covers what 6" -12" of your tank. As for my reflectors on my compacts well guess what these reflectors are for the individual lamps and I assure you they are quite comparable to t-5's I didn't say identical but comparable. I am considering going to t-5's for the exact reason I stated above about the lamp covering the whole surface area of my tank.
