CHAD ITS AMAZING HOW BRIGHT YOUR LIGHTS ARE THEY MAKE THE TANK LOOK LIKE ITS NOT THERE.:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


SORRY MAN HAD TO DO IT

Haha, I should have piled some LR on stand - then tried to convince everyone how clear my water and glass are!


- Chad

Just curious here, as I am gonna be starting a new tank soon here. Why the T5 over MH? Just heat issues? Isn't that light only 96W? I was gonna do a Giesmann 150 or 250MH with 4 24W t5 actinics, but should I be looking at going with the same light as you? Tank will be 24Lx18Wx20H...about 35 gallons. Would like to be able to keep ANYTHING that might catch my eye (incl. clams) Still doing lighting research here and people keep changing my mind. lol

X-Treme,
Actually the heat was never a consideration. I'm the guy that kept a 70w de MH over a 2gal nano and am a firm believer that halide poses less of a risk of heating your aquarium than fluorescent lighting (because it doesn't have to be placed as close to the surface of the water and can allow for more airflow). I keep making that claim, but no one else has really paid attention ( :

Believe it or not, halide is a better choice for people who also want to keep lower light corals than T5HO is. The advantage with halide is the PAR readings vary dramatically around the tank. The par just a few degrees off, is less than it is directly below the bulb so you can usually find a spot in a halide tank for just about anything. There isn't really any 'shade' or diminished spots in a T5 tank. The main difficulty brought up in the T5 forums isn't how to keep lps or clams, it is how not to kill/bleach your soft corals. (I have been told that because half my bulbs are just actinics, I should be ok though.)

Despite this problem, I went with T5 because I love how slim and pro the fixture looks. I also like fact that I can light my tank evenly with only 96watts of electricity. The cost is prety reasonable, the bulbs are each only $20 and early claims are that they don't have to be changed until they are a year to 18months old, same as halide. Even a single 150w de halide bulb wouldn't have lit my tank as well as this fixture, but it would have taken more electricity and I would be stuck with only one colour and no dawn/dusk. With these 4 bulbs I can fine tune the colour of my tank to exactly what I want.

Because you are torn, I suggest that you go with halide with T5 supplementation. That is the best of both worlds and I don't think you would regret it - plus you would have some nice shimmer. I don't think there is a downside to going with what you originally planned. The heat of the halide bulb will probably decrease the output of the T5s a bit. Halides need to be hot to work properly and T5 needs to be cool to get the most effect. There are claims that even T5-only fixtures that are actively cooled with fans put out as much as 30% more par than without the fans. That's why the radiation hungry crowd goes with the T5 fixtures with built in fans or adds them themselves... however, if you have a halide + T5, you will likely have plenty of par and wont have to squeeze the most performance out of your T5 - it would be mostly for looks and dawn/dusk anyways.

Sorry for rambling - I don't think there is any one right answer. T5 is still pretty new and a lot of the claims and figures may prove to be false over time. I just wanted to try my hand at it while being a little energy conscious and looking good (uh, the fixture that is, not me).

Best of luck whatever you decide,

- Chad

Here is a shot of the GFI plug and elctrical that I put in the rafters for power to my light:



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...electrical.jpg


- Chad

When I was testing the light, I noticed one of my kids' toys over in the corner was lit by the fluorescents so I took a couple pics to show the two stages of lighting:


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...19/lights4.jpg



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...19/lights5.jpg



I know, I know, maybe I should get some marine life to take pictures of...

- Chad

Things are looking good there, too bad the is no glass to hold it all.

Is that a picture of those rare non-aquatics cones. I hear they are twice as deadly as the aquatic variety. How can you keep such a dangerous animal with kids running a round. :lol:

I noticed on the one timer you have, there is THREE on/off cycles? Is that just the way the timer came cause you aren't really using it yet, or is there some method to your madness there?

P.S. - Sorry for all the "dumb" questions.

Paul,
Thanks bro.

And you're right. The cone was an impulse purchase - I didn't research its requirements before buying it like I should have. It's free to a good home... might work in a species tank...

That's really observant of you. Actually, I just took that timer out of the package and hadn't set it up yet. (The cone is nocturnal and doesn't have any light requirements).

When I do run the lights, I will probably try something like:
Actinic - 8:00am - 10:00PM
Daylight - 10:00am - 8:00PM

Cheers,

- Chad