T5 vs PC Lights

[madfronter]

So I was hoping to get some opinions from people who have upgraded to a T5 set up from their PC set up. How do they compare? I have been thinking about upgrading to a 48" T5 set up for my 55 gallon reef tank. I just bought some replacement bulbs for my 4x55watt PC set up and am getting sick of how expensive the PC bulbs are. I look forward to hearing your opinions.

[charlie]

Let's put it this way, I know some people who have downgraded from MH to T5, and are happy, it would definitely be an upgrade from PC lights. But you should have individual reflectors for the T5 bulbs, from what I understand, it really helps with their efficiency.
HTH.

[Bullet]

Depends on if you want vho t5s or not. I have 6x80w t5s with individual reflectors on icecap ballasts, and I can grow anything. PC lighting isn't as powerful.

[charlie]

Depends on if you want vho t5s or not. I have 6x80w t5s with individual reflectors on icecap ballasts, and I can grow anything. PC lighting isn't as powerful.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, one pic ain't gonna do it. you would think someone from MT would know better.

[Poseidon]

I went from Halides to T5, and I consider it an UPGRADE!

I have tons of pictures here, but here is a recent FTS:

[charlie]

Thanx for chiming in here Mike, I was hoping you might see this. Got a question for you. Do you still get the shimmer effect with the T5?

[ewokninja]

So I was hoping to get some opinions from people who have upgraded to a T5 set up from their PC set up. How do they compare? I have been thinking about upgrading to a 48" T5 set up for my 55 gallon reef tank. I just bought some replacement bulbs for my 4x55watt PC set up and am getting sick of how expensive the PC bulbs are. I look forward to hearing your opinions.

the cost of changing all your bulbs on a PC setup and T5 HO are pretty similar but the fact that T5s last much longer. IMO there isn't a huge difference in light output if you use a single reflector. THe individual parabolic reflectors seem to make the biggest difference. I think there are some pretty good deals on T5 retrofit kits out there if you are just looking to do 4 wide. Most of the parabolic individual reflectors I see are in 6 wide setups. of course the more bulbs the better but it all depends what your budget is

[Poseidon]

Charlie, I do get some shimmer, it is at the surface though. It is no where near the shimmer you get with halides. That being said, I am still happy with the results, less power, more light, good color, excellent growth! What more could I ask for?

[madfronter]

Thanks for all the insight guys. I think I'll end up upgrading to the t5 set up in the near future. Its too bad no one makes a 4" set up with individual reflectors.

[charlie]

They aren't real hard to DIY, but if you are looking for a fixture, you should be OK. What types of coral do you have in your tank now?

[Poseidon]

A 4ft fixture? How about the Tek light? Or an ATI Power Module, or maybe Aquactinics TX5? Any of those would be a good choice, but a Retro with IceCap ballast, like this one, is what I use.

[charlie]

You also got the individual reflectors???

[Lucid]

Poseidon, do you have just 4 lamps on your 90 or do you have 6? I was looking at that same icecap 'kit'... And how many lamps+reflectors can fit over a 75g?

[charlie]

The reflectors themselves are 2" wide, I think you could get 6 of them over there. Five would be an easy fit. I think you would need another ballast though???

[Lucid]

Ya prolly a workhorse ballast for any extras over 4. Not sure, still a newbie with T5s.

[charlie]

I would just go ahead and get another ice cap, never know when you are gonna upgrade.

[Lucid]

That'd be wicked! 4 should be plenty for what Im going to run. Then there would be a PC fixture up for sale in the 'For Sale or Trade Zone' forum.

[charlie]

Save the PC's for that fuge you are gonna have.

[Poseidon]

Yup, I have the individual reflectors. I do have a 5th bulb on a workhorse 5, it is for dusk to dawn only, it is a true actinic and adds very little if anything for PAR.

Until LED comes WAY down in price, T5 is the cost effective energy solution in my mind.

[madfronter]

They aren't real hard to DIY, but if you are looking for a fixture, you should be OK. What types of coral do you have in your tank now?

Well my tank has gone through a lot over the past year or so. I had moved a few times so I had my 75 gallon reef tank set up at my parents house. My stepfather who originally got into saltwater with me in 93 said he would take care of it for me for a while, but never kept up with it. As a result I lost all my fish and all my coral except for my zoanthids. The majority of the livestock was about 7-9 years old, so it was very disappointing to me. I lost three lyretail anthias, a mated pair of percula clowns, algae blenny, coral beauty, blastomusa, a bunch of hairy mushroom anemones (two variations) and about a half of a 75 gallon tank worth of yellow polyps (they covered the entire left half of the tank, even the back glass. It looked like field of yellow polyps) So in August I finally moved into my new house and set up a new 55 gallon tank and transfered all the sand, liverock, coral and about 35 gallons of water from the 75 to the new tank. The new tank has been set up for about a month and everything is looking great. I currently have the original zoanthids from the 75, a new pair of percula clowns, two yellow clown gobies, two green clown gobies, a algae blenny, three peppermint shrimp and two scarlet cleaner shrimp as well as a bunch of turbo, astrea and margarita snails. I am trying to only aquire aquacultured coral or coral frags from friends. I am pretty sure I would like to do a mostly soft coral tank but I would like to find another nice purple blastomusa. I loved that coral. It was originally sold to me as mushroom anemones. I have a few frineds in PA who are going to give me a kenya tree frag and xenia frag. I'm not sure I want the xenia in my thank though. I would also like to get some more hairy mushroom anemones for the clowns to see if they will host them like my old pair of clowns did.

Wow I'm gona stop now as I realized I just typed way too much here.