Lighting Guru's Need Opinions!!

[Nicole8ca]

Originally Posted by jasond

I like this light for the following reasons: Fans for cooling (which are fairly quiet), acrylic lens cover, looks clean, and cheaper to run than MH.

Jason

I often here people say how much cheaper T5's are to run than MH. Is it significant? If anyones able to quantify that for me it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nicole

[Reefer Rob]

Originally Posted by Nicole8ca

I often here people say how much cheaper T5's are to run than MH. Is it significant? If anyones able to quantify that for me it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nicole

Not necessarily cheaper, but a cooler, more even light distribution. The down side is that the light looks flat and unnatural IMO. My last tank was a 72G bowfront with 336W of T5 HO lighting, and I had plenty of light for SPS all the way to the bottom. That same tank would have needed 2- 250W MHs if I went that way, and I don't think I would have had the same light penetration from what I've seen of halides (I now run 400W MH)

Originally Posted by jasond

These lights look awesome, pricey but awesome. If I was to upgrade, that would be the road I would head down!

I'm sure we've all said something like this at some point, and it's a good lesson for someone starting out. We buy something to get us started, only to to have to "upgrade" in the future to be able to get the results we want. Better to buy the good stuff first and save yourself a lot of money.

You might as well know now, this hobby is expensive!

[hillbillyreefer]

Has anyone used the "new" Glo t5ho from Hagen. Not sure if the unit has individual reflectors or not. Not sure on the pricing either. Any comments would be appreciated.

The Tek light looks pretty sweet!!

Thanks for all the links guys. I've been reading bits and pieces of the RC one,
thanks Mark.

Brad

[mark]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

Has anyone used the "new" Glo t5ho from Hagen. Not sure if the unit has individual reflectors or not. Not sure on the pricing either. Any comments would be appreciated.

I picked up a couple of the GLO T5 ballasts used and have no complaints. Then again I have nothing to compare them too plus only using one of them to supplement MH and do dusk/dawn with actinics. The water proof end-caps are nice and hardwired back to the ballast. Have reflectors but weren't part of the GLO but still considering either the TEK2 or Icecap SLR as a little narrower than the one I'm using now (would allow me to add another bank of T5s in my hood). Reflectors though really don't seem an issue as if going the retro route, they just snap directly onto the bulbs and not that bad for price.

[jasond]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1226502

From what I could find, Aquactinic TX5 are workhorse ballasts, and the Solar Flare models have IceCap ballasts.

Seems to be a lot of happy ppl with these lights on RC as well.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by jasond

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1226502

From what I could find, Aquactinic TX5 are workhorse ballasts, and the Solar Flare models have IceCap ballasts.

Seems to be a lot of happy ppl with these lights on RC as well.

Has anyone ripped apart a Tec light? I was looking at a place that sells replacment ballast for them and they are WH5's, is that what they come with?

Steve

[fkshiu]

Teklights use Workhorse ballasts. The 60" teklight retrokit I got came with a WH7 ballast.

The Aquactinics Solar Flare is right up there with the ATI for "ultimate T5" status.

[sharuq1]

If he was to go mH what could he do? A 150? 2? Combo or something?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

Has anyone used the "new" Glo t5ho from Hagen. Not sure if the unit has individual reflectors or not. Not sure on the pricing either. Any comments would be appreciated.

The Tek light looks pretty sweet!!

Thanks for all the links guys. I've been reading bits and pieces of the RC one,
thanks Mark.

Brad

I bought the glow for my fresh water tank and it is pretty sweet, I would never have the ilusion it or any other T5ho would be able to replace MH (especialy after doing some PAR comparasons) but on a shallower tank like you are using it would work well. I would think that with your tank width two of the fixtures would be pretty good, and I would go for the 36" ones if you are planning on going to a 33 later.

Steve

[gqlmao]

I got a set of t-5s, The price is unbeatable . New waves from sunlight supply pretty much are the same as the teklights but much cheaper,(they dont have the nice black shell). I think they go for like 130 for a 4 bulb setup at golds (without bulbs). So around 230 for a whole 24 inch t-5 fixture with bulbs isn't bad. The price is a bit higher than a power compact, but I'm sure most people rather fork up the additional 50 to 100 bucks for t-5s. I personally haven't fired mine up yet but I'm sure the results are promising from what I have heard and seen.