need advices for my 5ft sps setup

[piglet]

it depends on which type of t5...

ATI, deltec, Arcadia ?? T5 HO... can tell me more???

[terryansimon]

hmm. the replacement of that many T5 bulbs can cost quite a dent in the wallet as well.. however, I'm sure that if you can manage to secure a bulk purchase for yourself, you should be able to get a better price. check around.

[piglet]

Agreed with terryansimon.. but there are various brand for us to chose.. etc. osram > 6500k ,cheaper than ATI, add a bit of ATI blue etc.. Both of us > same tank maker .. haha.

bro marinebetta >>>will be using x3 Icecap 660 so they will be overdriven to aprox 100W each, according to Icecap's experiments.

you get the idea from reef mag' rite? What is the negative of overdrive your T5 ?? Share more infor...

Icecap 660 cost $260+ to $300. Overdrive your T5, will cause your T5 to consume more watt too..

Any T5 users ???? comments..

[marinebetta]

Read about IC ballasts quite a no of years ago, when they were using it to overdrive NO tubes to get output equivalent to VHO and having longer lifespan....Just followed up on their experiments with T5 when they were introduced. Apparently IC ballasts are "intelligent" enough to vary the power to give a constant light output and thus extend the lifespan of the bulbs....That may be all marketing speak for all you know but for now, I'm taking that as "truth"

...and nobody said it would be cheaper than MH

[piglet]

More infor needed .

[piglet]

bro marinebetta,

So overdrive T5 can increse its lifespan and achieve greater output.. What is the down-side??? i don't mind of paying the price of Icecap 660 e-ballast. but > do need more infor on this..

[piglet]

Any reefer care to share infor on T5 or overdrive T5 with Icecap ??? Hopes that these infor will enable' other reefers to increase their knowledge on T5 .

[marinebetta]

bro marinebetta,

So overdrive T5 can increse its lifespan and achieve greater output.. What is the down-side??? i don't mind of paying the price of Icecap 660 e-ballast. but > do need more infor on this..

Not necessarily.....probably depends on the bulb being used etc. Nobody knows for sure as no real life trials (except for GE starcoat 54 W tubes) have been done. Search for IceCap and look through their website - they should have the reprints; or go to IceCap sponsor forum on RC and ask....

Only way to get IC ballast is through EAN or direct from US - but make sure you get the 220V version.....

[piglet]

bro marinebetta,

Thanks for your infor.!! So you intend to overdrive' 36wT5 Ho or 80w T5 Ho??

I will do more research/study on T5 while i get all my equipment. When will you commence your T5 project? Pls con't to share your infor.

At first > i am thinking of AB or Arcadia 4ft/5ft MH fixture. After some reading on T5. i decided to embark' my study/research on T5 ho.

[piglet]

I will asked for more information on the lifespan and performance on T5 from manfucturer of T5 ho and reefers in Reef Central forum. will update these information about T5 here when i received sufficient information.

Meanwhile, any T5 users here > care to share their information??

Any comments on my equipment for my future 5ft tank. (hmm> will take note on the 1/3hp deail chiller. as some reefer suggest me to go for 1hp. )

[pangz]

well....... as silly as it sounds in this tech info filled thread........

I just prefer the shimmering effect of the MH to T5......

At the end of the day, I think I would enjoy my tank better........ hehe

Good luck piglet, in your quest for the best lighting system..... Going SPS is really a strain on the pockets.

[lightningstrike]

Good luck piglet, in your quest for the best lighting system..... Going SPS is really a strain on the pockets.

and so the truth hv spoken.

[piglet]

starts to receive infor from reef central forum..

few of reefer from reef cental forum :

rspar > 1-2 years for the t5 depending on hours you run 8-10 hrs I'd say you'd get 1 1/2years. You can stretch a mh bulb to a year IMO.

The Grim Reefer> The duration on the T5's? If you were to run the Aquablues which are supposed to have a better PAR than the suns would be about 18 months at this point based on Ice Cap's estiments.

waiting for manfucturer and Moonpod> a T5 user and expert to reply my pm.

lightningstrike,

Yup, you are rite. IT is a expensive hobby . believe all reefers here will agreed too. that marine reef hobby> never a cheap hobby. Believe that you have spend tons of $$ on this hobby too.

any way> i am still a student in this hobby. need advice and comments from senior reefer like you .

[piglet]

a fair'' reefer from reef central forum. : T-5 can keep SPS's if you use enough of them. I would go run them off of an IceCap 660. If you keep bulb temps under 150 degrees, you should be able to get up to 2 years out of them. 8 80w T-5s off an Icecap will give you about 800watts of light. Of course you will need to use a good quality reflector.

MH's are always better for sps's however they will produce too much heat in your application.

I think one nice thing about a T5 system is you can change the look of the lights by changing a lamp or two. I think that SPS would grow better under the more intense halides but I don't buy the argument that the color wont be as good.

His information is useful. thus for T5 will work on sps.. will requires 8-9 T5 ho. For the life span of T5 > believe that they can lasted over 1year.

T5 has its advantage, so do MH. Both of them have their down-side' too.

another reefer (brentp, Premium Member) from same forum : I'm not sure who told you 5-6 months ( T5 ho requires 'replacement' after 5-6months) but one of the benefits of using T5 is that they lose very little of their color and output over the life of the bulb compared to MH. ReefGeek told me a couple months back that he has not had to sell any replacement lamps yet. I didn't ask when he started selling his first fixtures.

Hopes that these information will helps > some of reefers here.

[YzF]

Piglet,

T5 can be use to keep SPS. But i dun think it will make a lot of difference by using 80w t5 or 54w t5. Personally i dun think 80w ballast come cheap. 54w ballast on the other hand is easily avail. Imagine if one of your ballast fail. Where to get replacement? how long would you need to get another?

Can your sps wait?

I feel that by alternating the lenght of the 54w tubes, you can acheive a homogenous lighting in your 5 ft system. If you feel that the side is still going to look dark, you can also add in another 2 x 24w at the end of the tank perpendicular to the front of your tank. Meaning you have 8 x 54w t5 paralled to the front of your tank, and another 2 x 24w perpendicular to the front glass.

Just my 2 cents

[piglet]

thank YzF,

Of course, my sps can wait. i am getting my equipment first before my 5ft

tank/carbinet etc. i am buying my stuffs one by one. Just brought my OR pumps and cal-reactor. Thus will con't to do research on equipment etc.

YzF , you are a T5 user? You are rite! Do realised that 4ft has more choice' (in term of brand and color) than 5ft T5 tube. For shimmering effect , i am thinking of using 75w MH or (something else) to create shimmering effect.

Yet to decide >> diy T5 or get ATI retrofit T5 fixture. Any way i need to do more research on T5. Will con't to compare 8xT5 ho vs AB/ATI 4/5 ft MH fixture.

[piglet]

ASH, President of IceCap, Inc. from the Sponsor Forums of reef central online replied>

That's the first I've heard of less than 1 year with T-5 HO lamps. My guess is the ballast they use is hard on the lamps and they may not be venting off heat sufficiently.

Unless these were brand X lamps the ballast had some responsibility. Improper installation of endcaps can also shorten lamp life (or cause a fire) in which case the ends would become very black quickly.

ASH answer to overdrive T5 HO with his company 'icecap' ballast >

We have been successfully over-driving T-5 HO lamps in 3 , 4 and 5 ft lengths for several years now. We starting to see more 2 ft T-5 HO applications work but removal of excess lamp heat seem vital to lamp life.

So far I've verified that GE's 54-watt T-5 HO 6.5K 46.5" lamps provide a solid two years of reef tank performance. The ATI or Deltec Blue Plus is my pick of the T-5 HO actinic line-up. I'd say good for at least 18 months, probably more. Again keeping the canopy ventilated is crucial. Also using snap on reflectors like our SLR line is what makes the T-5 such an efficient, intense light delivery system. We have found a T-5 HO lamp we couldn't safely overdrive yet, but I'm sure as cheap knock-off T-5's enter the market there will be some exceptions to the rule.

The downside is you may not get 20K hours but running a 54-watt lamp at 85+ watts for two solid years is a nice trade off. You could probably keep using them beyond 2 years but they've only been around so long for testing purposes.

Hopes that these information >> can be useful to reefers here.