Which light Would be More Beneficial?

[OCCFan023]

I had a couple of question regarding lighting and was wondering if you could help me out. Since the metal halide is compltlely not a possibility (baring a miracle) at the moment (maybe christmas) I am looking at alt options...

anyway I just wanted your opinions on the following lamps and the questions

48" Nova Extreme 4x54 watt T5HO w/ 4 Lunar Lights (216 total watts) vs a 48 inch 4x65 Watt Current USA PowerCompact Orbit Fixture (260 total watts) as far as the better light for corals other than sps? I thought that the T5 would be a better option despite the lesser watts but wouldnt it be more powerful?

Finnex 47" HO T5 Fixture - 6 Bulb x 54w Complete
**does anyone know anything about finnex? apparently there a good foreign brand but I dont know if I trust it.


really I just want to get everyones opinion on the T5 vs the PC

 

[1979camaro]

well, i know this isn't what you wanted but im going to give my opinion:

save the money you would be spending on the lights you are considering and just wait until you have saved enough more to get the MH. No point in dumping $200 now when that could be put to MH later...

 

[OCCFan023]

Well the thing is I had to stop my summer job for tennis (senior year hs so scholorship stuff) and my funds are very very limited (only way this is doable is im busting my *** for my parents taking a 4000 dollar estimate and agreeing to do it just for the fish tank (estimate was from a landscaper..)

What I wanted to do was just get something to cover me from now until Christmas/birthday (a decent pc light that will enable me to still get some LPS and random others)

I was thinking of the 4X96 watt orbit to carry me over until then (used for 175) and I thought that would be a good deal.

I compltley understand what your saying about saving up the money but thats the problem I dont have a source of income at the moment minus the landscaping (and training for tennis takes up like 6-8 hours on variouse days)

I sorda wish I had just gone for the mh when I had the chnace but that has come and gone.

 

[wayne]

Well write of the finnex. The bulbs share a common, non gullwing reflector and so waste a lot of light by reflecting it back into the bulb. Have you seen a gullwing reflector - in profile they look like

)
o)
)

Where the brackets are reflectors and the o = a bulb. Also if they can't be bothered to use decent reflectors (cheap) do you think they can be bothered to use decent bulbs (expensive)

As far as the other two go I think T5 is a better technology than PC, and even tho' they're much the same in wattage, the lumen and PAR output form the T5 will be much better than the PC lights.

But I think you'd be silly to buy either of these, especially if you're going to replace them in 6 months or whatever. MH is absolutely what you should go for, used if necesserry. Why spend your money twice.
How deep is the tank anyway - can't you jsut live with the T5. I know I ultimately prefer MH, mostly for the rippples and point intensity, but T5 isn't bad. I would never specnd that much money on 'bodge' lighting.

 

[OCCFan023]

tank is 21 in deep (unless I choose thee 90 which is 25 in, but thats doubtful)

I would be perfectly satisfied with a T5 but by not running a MH I am pitting myself with little chance of keeping SPS.

Would a T5 on a 75 or 90 be capable of supporiting light demanding corals and clams (like maybe a 6 bulb T5?) or could I get away with the 4 bulb?

 

[wayne]

Running or not running MH does nothing much to improve/decrease your chances of keeping SPS. My preference for MH is long term economy, simplicity and a like of glitter lines (which have a positive effect on photosynthetic corals). Also the punch of MH gives you some slack in overcoming water discoloration due to organic pollutants.
If you look on reefcentral.com at former tanks of the month, or search on the web ofr images of Bernd Mohr's and a bunch of other European tanks, you will see tanks lit by T5's that simply blow away the majority of MH lit tanks. Frankly you can keep SPS under most anything as long as it is lit to some extent, and in balance you get well on top of water quality and feeding.

In the wild SPS like acropora are extremely hardy corals. Extremely hardy, capable of withstanding aerial exposure for multiple hours at low tide, and a host of other enviromental atrocities that , if you looked at their reputation, should kill thm in 10 seconds. You might want to investigate why SPS are so difficult in captivity for many people, easy in nature. Frankly it's likely water quality, and feeding. Lighting is the least of your problems, but can be used to counteract inadequacies in the other two.

As to whether you should get 4 or 6 tubes depends on the quality. More is always better, but if it's 4 good tubes, in good reflectors versus 6 so so tubes in crappy reflectors, then I'll take the 4 good tubes. The efficiency, light transmitted downwards is so much higher. As we get units frmo deltec, AquaMedic and Geisemann, Europe is educated to know that for T5 quality rules, not quantity.

 

[OCCFan023]

Aqua Medic Ocean Light T5 Fixtures - Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists

can anyone offer any insigh on aqua medic's oceanlights? I am still trying to get a aquaspacelight MH with pc but its ip in the air at this point (hoping a deal falls through...)

but as a back up I was wondering if this was a reputable/good quality brand? I cant tell if the fixture has the individual reflectors (it apperes to be two units as well...) I am despertly trying to get the mh (for as you said Wayne its better enonomically in the long run..BUT the T5 comes with all bulbs and they have a life of 18-25 months.

only problem is I cant tell if its two seperate light fixtures with 4 bulbs or one with 8... I need to find specs to see if it would even fit over the tank...

 

[wayne]

I reckon AquaMedic as very reputable company. Why don't you email them and ask what they think , and aslk them if they have any measurements of lumens/PAR output. You'll then be able to do a straight comparism with a MH setup.
Why don't you jsut get a straight 150DE MH setup w/out the added rubbish of PC actinics, nightlights blah, blah, blah. Used?

 

[OCCFan023]

Yea Ive been searching like a madman on ebay and reef central for metal halides (I would certainly do no pc if the oppurtunity arose, but the PC also gives the tank a nice balance of blue light with the lower MH instead of just one with only MH)

I did email aqua medic about the size of the unit (but I ended up getting a response from the seller on the 54X8... I will email aquamedic about the output or just check there website)

atm these are my tangible options of lights

1) Aqua Medic Ocean Light T5 8x55 watts.. My ONLY reservation about this light is that it seems to good to be true. Someone near me is selling them so I am going to go check them aout and see if it is on the up and up..

2) Tek T5 light 4x65 watt.. With this I wouldnt try anything past zoos and select sps.. With ths light I would use it until I bought a MH system and then just sell this. I could get this for 150 so atm it is a AWSOME deal and would still be a smart money choice for resale value in the next few months (bulbs only used 2 months)

3) 48" Aqua SpaceLight Fixture with 2 x 150W 10,000K HQI Double Ended Metal Halide Bulb + 2 x 24W Blue PC Bulb - best case scenario!

4) 48" Hamilton MH + PC 2x250w, 4x55w light fixture, asking 580 I said Id paid 400 ahaha well see what he says (the guy seems desperate so maybe.. and plus its been running for 1.2 years so I said lights would need to be replaced)

A side question how long do Metal Halide Bulbs last? Just wondering for replacement needs...

 

[1979camaro]

you can always run 14000k MH bulbs and get that bluish tint...that would be the way i would go

 

[OCCFan023]

yea two 1400k mhs (pendants or unit) would be cool (only problem with pendants is hanging them from my ceiling, but it could be done.) I like the look of T5s alot but they are more to deal with when compared to Mh.

Worst comes to worst Ill just take the 4 bulb T5 and just stay at low light corals for the time being and then bump up when the oppurtunity arises (T5 resale value will stay pretty high, but this is last option.


hunt continues!

 

[OCCFan023]

O yea I just wanted to run this stat by for verification. I was just looking up the life of halide bulbs and came across 15,000-20,000+ hours!

now running at 8 hours a day that would be nearly 5.2 years of life (and thats at the bottom 15,000.) Is this really the case?

(T5s running at 18-24 month lives really gives me something to think about if this is true..)

 

[wayne]

It's not true. Expect a year tops for either technology, less if you go for super blue end bulbs. Look on the bright side, PC's are cooked after 6 months, and 1000 W 20K halides have lost about 30% percent after 90 days.

What happens is the blue colour part of the spectrum dies first, faster, leaving a less intense light that's less blue, more yellow

 

[OCCFan023]

then wouldnt that make T5s better choices if they have a life of 18 months or is my understanding of T5 life scewed aswell? The halide info I got was not aquarium related so thats probably the confusion on that, but I see T5s being run on aquariums for upwards of 18 months?

 

[OCCFan023]

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_optRe...150W+14000K+PowerPaq+HQI+Lamps+&+Lunar+Lights

would 300 watts of MH be capable of sustaining sps and high light clams?

 

[1979camaro]

personally i would say you would be better off with more light, especially with 14000k bulbs

 

[OCCFan023]

Aqua Spacelight 48 inch 2x150 Watt Metal Halide + 2x24 Watt PC Fixture Black - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store

alrighty I head back from this dealer and I can make the deal on the above light.. Bulbs are only 5 months old so I still got some life out of them too.

Only drawback with this light is the only way to hang it is from the ceiling or wall (unless I put it right on the tank frame or fabricate a raiser) but its worth it for the deal...

Camaro so you think the 300 watts of mh wouldnt be enough? So will this light not be adequite on a 90 for sps and certain clams?

 

[wayne]

There is absolutely nothing you can't keep under that much light. you might not be able to push out the worlds most amazing colours, but that's more likely to be a function of how good your water managment is than being due to lack of light.
You will find hanging the lights form the ceiling is the preferred way to go for good practical reasons.
5 months of bulb time is reasonable use, you will still get 6 more months and a bit. The aqualine's are decent bulbs. I would say you are making a sensible investment here.

 

[1979camaro]

occ: my concern was that you wouldn't get enough usable light out of 300w of 14000k, on the 10,000k I don't think you will have that problem

 

[wayne]

One mans 14K is another mans 10K - those numbers are pretty 'flexible'. Without a lumen meter or PAR meter it's tough to say what's really going on.

I'm surprised more LUX meters aren't sold. They're quite cheap, lesss than RRP for a good MH bulb. PAR meters do a better job of course but are far more expensive.