More fuel for the T5 fire

[Aquattro]

You NEED metal halide. I'm just sayin'.....

[digital-audiophile]

LOL!! Brad, you are the reason I posted this. ... what took you so long?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

LOL!! Brad, you are the reason I posted this. ... what took you so long?

I wanted to share the fun, but nothing good was coming up, so I thought I needed to straighten out the confusion.
I just remember snorkelling through the reefs and recalling that a real reef looks like it's lit by MH, not T5, so therefore to get an accurate representation of a real reef, you need MH. I looked at a tank last night lit with T5s, nice and bright with great colors, but something was just missing. I guess it's sort of the "snap" you get with a more direct light source. And you can tan under MH too, just like on a real reef.

[Reefer Rob]

That's the reason I went with MHs on my present tank. Plenty of light with T5s, but they don't have the "natural look" (well that and my wife told me to ) I still miss all the good things about T5s though. Shadowing and glitter lines are the only thing MHs add to a system IMO.

[Aquattro]

[quote=Reefer Rob;314642] I still miss all the good things about T5s though. QUOTE]

I guess I still fail to understand what these good things are.....

[digital-audiophile]

1.) Slim unit design and weight (not as big an ugly as Mh units)
2.) Multiple bulbs allow individual selection to fine tune your colour preference & par (as opposed to only ~4-5 realstic bulb selections/colours available with MH)
3.) Less energy consumption
4.) Less heat (even after 10 hours on I can put my hand on the unit vs. MH of which I still have a nasty scar on my arm from a fraction of a second contact with a fixture)
5.) Less bulb replcement cost (up to debate)
6.) Even light in all corners of the tank, no shadows or MH "spolight" effect


Just a few points that sold me.

[Nate]

T5 for the power and all of gregs other points, and maybe a small 70 watt halide for the shimmer. Best of both worlds, and hey, then everyone is on your team ( halide guys and t5 guys)



Probably not a great time however to mention I am a t5 guy.

Nate

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

1.) Slim unit design and weight (not as big an ugly as Mh units)
2.) Multiple bulbs allow individual selection to fine tune your colour preference & par (as opposed to only ~4-5 realstic bulb selections/colours available with MH)
3.) Less energy consumption
4.) Less heat (even after 10 hours on I can put my hand on the unit vs. MH of which I still have a nasty scar on my arm from a fraction of a second contact with a fixture)
5.) Less bulb replcement cost (up to debate)
6.) Even light in all corners of the tank, no shadows or MH "spolight" effect


Just a few points that sold me.

Hmm.
1.) My CL MH unit is slim and lightweight
2.)I've always been able to select a color temp that was to my liking (really, how many combinations do you need)
3.)Have no info on this, but I'm sure any savings are negligible over the TCO (total cost of ownership of tank)
4.) With my enclosed HQI setup, heat is not an issue, I can touch any part of my fixture.
5.) <$200 yr, I'm happy with value for dollar here
6.) depending on fixture, reflector, same thing with MH. although I prefer different areas of exposure for different species placement in tank. I certainly don't have any "spotlight" effect in my tank.

[Myka]

Unless you guys are comparing PAR of T5 setup vs MH setups using the same number of watts then you have no debate. MH are more efficient. There are really only three points in which T5s could be considered "better":

1. They have prettier fixtures.
2. You can customize the visual appearance of the light by using different combinations of bulbs. More bulbs = more combinations.
3. Less heat, but not by much.

On that note. I have T5s right now. I've had MH in the past. I prefer a combination! T5s are really good actinics!!! Tee hee hee

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

3.) Less energy consumption
5.) Less bulb replcement cost (up to debate)

I'd have to debate both those. Neither are true.