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T5 vs MH

J

junk

Still in the process of setting up my new 2 me 120g. I thought I had it all figured out and was going to use a MH retro kit. Here are my thoughts though and I'm trying to figure out if I'm thinking correctly or not.

If I run MH and the canopy is an AGA canopy, then I'll likely have the lights too close to the water and will likely have too much heat going on thus needing a chiller. However, with any decent MH I should be able to keep sps.

If I run T5, something like http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_111_112&products_id=1606 , then I should be able to fit this in a canopy and not have too much heat thus not needing a chiller. What I don't know though is would I still be able to keep sps?

Tank is 48x24x24.

This is just so confusing. I wouldn't mind running MH even if it was a fixture like current without a canopy if I could make it look clean and keep the fan noise down. It's the extra heat and noise that could cause enough spousal grief that the hobby could turn into a real battle.

Thanks for sharing any thoughts.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If you're concerned about being able to keep SPS with just T5's, take a look at the Full Tank Shots in THIS thread. This tank is kept with all T5's and is ridiculous.

I'm not guaranteeing similar results because she's got an unbelievably green thumb but it can be done.
 
J

junk

JohnS_323 said:
If you're concerned about being able to keep SPS with just T5's, take a look at the Full Tank Shots in THIS thread. This tank is kept with all T5's and is ridiculous.

I'm not guaranteeing similar results because she's got an unbelievably green thumb but it can be done.
Click to expand...

Wow. I definitely need to read that thread. Those pictures are incredible. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
 
H

Hirobo

junk said:
JohnS_323 said:
If you're concerned about being able to keep SPS with just T5's, take a look at the Full Tank Shots in THIS thread. This tank is kept with all T5's and is ridiculous.

I'm not guaranteeing similar results because she's got an unbelievably green thumb but it can be done.
Click to expand...

Wow. I definitely need to read that thread. Those pictures are incredible. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
Click to expand...

If you think the pictures look good you should see the tank in person WOW
 
J

junk

After seeing one pic of her T5 setup, I need to ask, do companies sell full units like that which can simply be mounted inside a canopy or do you have to build your own? Also, where are the ballasts? Are the ballasts external like for MH? Thx.
 
P

PrettyBoy

junk said:
After seeing one pic of her T5 setup, I need to ask, do companies sell full units like that which can simply be mounted inside a canopy or do you have to build your own? Also, where are the ballasts? Are the ballasts external like for MH? Thx.
Click to expand...

ice cap sells a prewired/mounted 4' 4bulb t5 unit with a 660 ballast. my girlfriend has one and its great
 
J

jceli728

Icecap retro kit. I'm also doing a 120g. I'll be using 8xt5 with 2x660 icecap ballast that will overdrive bulbs from 54w to 80w. I personally think that if you pick up the parts "end caps, standoffs, reflectors, ballast" separately is cheaper than the icecap retro kit.
 
Baxreefs

Baxreefs

You can definitly do T-5 only with SPS, but know that you'll still have to deal with heat. Less heat than say 250 or 400 MH, but still significant heat. Read Wendy's thread on page 3 or 4 she talks about venting. You still need to consider that.
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I would say Wendy has one green thumb one orange one purple one red ...wait that is too many thumbs but you get the idea. My T5 work well and as I get them fine tuned ..better bulbs they are doing very well. I really get a mininum amount of heat if you overdrive the T5 you will get a bit more.
 
J

jceli728

You can definitly do T-5 only with SPS, but know that you'll still have to deal with heat. Less heat than say 250 or 400 MH, but still significant heat. Read Wendy's thread on page 3 or 4 she talks about venting. You still need to consider that.
Click to expand...

I have not had any heat issues with my tank so far. My canopy is open so that might help I'm also running 2x4" icecap fans that actually drops my temperature to by 1 degree when lights are on. I will see how this works out on my new closed canopy.
 
Baxreefs

Baxreefs

I run a combo of MH & T-5 and my T-5 reflectors get every bit as hot as my MHs. I have the scars to prove it. Certainly in an open canopy this is not going to be as big an issue, and the T-5 tubes do not radiate as much heat to the water as an SE MH bulb does to be sure. But, you have to consider the heat that the T-5 do add to the canopy and consider runing some venting to address it. That's all I am say'n.
 
J

JerseyWendy

:-[ :-[ Aaaw, thank you guys all so much for your kind words. I'm as red as a ripe tomato over here. You made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and put a big smile on my face, too. :-*

Junk, when I had my 75, I also ran it with T5s only (6 X 54Watts Teklight fixture). I had an open canopy on that tank (top was open), and there were no heat issues whatsoever.

On my 180, with a closed canopy, I needed to make sure I would ventilate appropriately, as you will have heat with 8 X 80 Watts glaring down just a few inches above the water surface. We installed 3 controllable fans into the canopy. One on each side blowing over the endcaps, and one on top of the canopy, sucking hot air out. Works great for me. :)

Keep in mind that if you decide to go with T5s, you will not have the shimmer that you have with MHs. Don't know if that's important to you or not, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. In order to create "somewhat" of a shimmer I was using a long rod with 36 LEDs for a while, but that rod just got in the way each and every time I had to do maintenance, so I eventually got rid of it.
 
J

jceli728

Wendy,


What LED's where you using? where did you get them from? I would like to try that in my new canopy to see how it works out. I never had the shimmer in my thanks don't really care much about it but I would like to try it.
 
J

JerseyWendy

jceli728 said:
Wendy,


What LED's where you using? where did you get them from? I would like to try that in my new canopy to see how it works out. I never had the shimmer in my thanks don't really care much about it but I would like to try it.
Click to expand...

I had 2 of these (1 with white LEDs and 1 with blue LEDs)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-Moonlight-72-LED-Fresh-or-Salt-moon-light_W0QQitemZ120392193406QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120392193406&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50
 
D

daveh285

JRWOHLER said:
I would say Wendy has one green thumb one orange one purple one red ...wait that is too many thumbs but you get the idea. My T5 work well and as I get them fine tuned ..better bulbs they are doing very well. I really get a mininum amount of heat if you overdrive the T5 you will get a bit more.
Click to expand...

ITS IN THE BOOTS,THE BOOTS, THE PINK BOOTS, :eek: :eek:
 
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