More fuel for the T5 fire

Myka · #1 04-01-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zylumn

Photoperiod
10 am to 12 pm

10 fingers and 4 toes = 14 hours

That is a long time to keep lights on.
Kevin

Bahahaha!!! Wow...excellent mathematical skills on my part! 12 pm is noon though. 12 am is midnight. I'm sure that the article means his lights are on from 10 am to midnight...which yes, would be 14 hours, not 12.

Aquattro · #2 04-01-2008, 02:58 PM

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

digital-audiophile · #3 04-01-2008, 03:10 PM

LOL!! Brad, you are the reason I posted this.

... what took you so long?

Aquattro · #4 04-01-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

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 · #5 04-01-2008, 04:04 PM

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 · #6 04-01-2008, 04:15 PM

[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 · #7 04-01-2008, 04:32 PM

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.