Lighting my 180 all over

[Anonymous]

LOL well I never thought I would be here again but tada!

Electricity rates are skyrocketing here in CT and we're soon to be highest in the nation. Because I have seen some amazing things done with T5 lighting, I have decided that I might want to spend the money up front to invest in some T5 lighting to save on the electricity on the back end.

I was originally looking for a nice fixture. I could have sworn the SLS ones came in 6 foot lengths but I see now they don't. I definitely want a fixture with the individual reflectors for each bulb. I was thinking I could go with two four foot fixtures and overlap them but then they're 19 inches wide each so that won't fit over a 180. So now it's looking like I will have to build a new hood and do some retrofitting unless I can find a suitable 72 inch fixture with the indiv. reflectors.

I currently light the tank with a 400w MH in the middle and a 250w MH on either side of that. Then I use two 160w VHO's for actinics.

I don't do much in the way of SPS. The only thing I'm concerned about really in that tank is my 24 inch gigas clam which will soon be too large for the tank anyway. I'm mostly an LPS kind of guy. Glitter lines and all that jazz is meaningless to me.

Should I go with the T5's? Will I get the same punch in terms of lighting for my tank? Just looking to lower the electric bill a bit.

Thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

No one's got any experience with T5's?

 

[Len]

I do If you're going to be retrofitting, consider going with multiple sets of 36" bulbs. The problem is it becomes quite costly to replace bulbs. But you will get more output then longer bulbs.

Or if you don't need ultimate output, retrofit some 48" bulbs with independent reflectors by staggering them. The sides will get less light, but it won't be too bad.

I like T5s. If you like the look of PC or fluorescent, you'll like T5s as well. They were a bit brighter to my eyes, and since they are smaller in diameter, you can cram in more bulbs in the same area. My only issue with T5s is they don't penetrate the water column as well as halides, so watch the lower half of your tank to make sure the photosynthetic organisms there are getting enough light.

 

[Anonymous]

I was going to use the 48's and stagger them so that the very center of the tank would have been the brightest. Was thinking using somewhere around 12 bulbs.

I suppose I can go with the 36" bulbs and not have to stagger any. Not sure this will work cause then in the center there will be two sets of endcaps back to back making the total length longer.

With all the SPS tanks I have seen with the T5's, I wasn't really too worried about penetration. Would 5 bulbs in each half of the tank be enough? 6? 8? My biggest concern is saving on the electricity.

 

[Len]

T5s are a bit shorter then your standard fluorescent. You'd have to look it up, but a 36" T5 is closer to 35" in length. But if necessary, you can offset them to make them fit.

Most of the SPS tanks using T5s are either not very deep or have the SPS in the upper 1/2 to 2/3 of the tank, whereas halides will allow SPS to grow all the way down on the sandbed in a 30" deep tank. But seeing that you don't need all that light, it shouldn't be a concern. 5 bulbs per half is probably the bare minimum I'd go for a mostly LPS tank. 8 is more ideal.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm looks like if I used 4 of the 36" tek lights with the 4 lamp config would be cheaper than DIYing a retrofit setup. Then you gotta factor in my time plus materials for a new hood.

Hmmmm.

 

[Unarce]

You'll still get very good growth (even at the bottom) as T5's with the individual reflectors give excellent coverage.

SPS will color up differently under T5's. More of a faded, pastel look. Depends on what you prefer.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I don't keep much SPS in my own personal tank. The tek lights will give me individual reflectors for each bulb. Now I am just wondering how hanging 4 seperate light fixtures over my tank will look.

 

[Anonymous]

Have you considered using 3 175watt MH instead? It might be a better option than a whole lot of t-5's. It would be cheaper to replace the bulbs and if your overall wattage is less you will use less power.

 

[Anonymous]

I would but I really didn't think 175w MH would penetrate as well down. Shoot, I would use 3 150w HQI pendants if I could get the same penetration on the bottom as 8 T5's would give me.

 

[ChrisRD]

I've actually looked into this because I'm currently setting up a 180 FOWLR and I'm already planning for the possibility of having to add more light down-the-road (you know how things escalate in this hobby :wink: )...

I've seen several 6-footers with 60" T-5s and they look evenly lit to me. If I end-up adding some T-5s to my 180, I think that's what I'm going to use. IMO that will be more cost effective that using smaller lamps...

As for low wattage halides - I bet the new Iwasaki 15Ks would work fine too. They're very bright on electronic ballasts.

 

[Anonymous]

You got any links to those tanks Chris? I thought about going with the 60" too. It's only 6 inches on either side really.

LOL now I know why so many people just starting up go crazy over lighting.

 

[ChrisRD]

Personally I don't usually put corals within 6" of the edges anyway, so I'm not worried about missing that small bit of coverage. Besides, given the diffused nature of fluorescents - not a big deal IME/IMO.

I'll see if I can find you some of the links...

 

[Anonymous]

The t5's I think would light up the tank more uniformly than the pendants. I don't know though. If the 150 HQI's could penetrate nicely to the bottom I might go that way afterall.

 

[Nathan1]

JustPhish,

What you need to research is EFFICIENCY. Are T5's MORE or LESS efficient than Metal Halide?

What ever you end up doing, go with the most efficient lighting method. That's my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

I need to replace my end caps on my VHO's. I don't know what to buy!!

 

[ChrisRD]

As far as efficiency goes, I don't think there's much out there right now that can compete with the 175 watt Iwasaki 15Ks in a good reflector (like LA3s) running on electronic ballasts - particularly IceCaps. They basically perform like good 250 watters and use a lot less power.