modding 150W aqualight pro to 250W

[kwirky]

T5's do not compare to PC's because I've owned both. I couldn't even look at T5's without hurting my head. I wasn't aiming to turn this into a MH vs. T5 thread, that monster doesn't need to be raised from the dead. What I meant was that upgrading my PC bulbs to T5's would be a great compromise with changing out the MH bulb for a 250W. Much less work and much less $$ for results that would still be great.

and adding the T5's probably wouldn't be as supplemental actinic. Instead I'd run some 13k T5 bulbs to increase PAR because the 14k bulb is already nice and blue. I want just a little more PAR.

Oh and I have read some MH vs. T5 PAR measurements. They're hard to dig up on RC (they're out there) but the T5 6700/13k (50/50) measurements were across the board more intense than 250W 10k MH lighting when within 16" from the fixture. After 16" you lost light considerably. This is a 16" tall tank so T5's would be very intense in it.

This is a single tank scenario that I'm trying to solve that has a $$ budget. I'm not trying to solve the debate between T5 and MH

[Canadian]

Is this for real? The T5 PAR measurements have been replicated numerous times on RC. Take a look at this thread - first page has a pic of PAR measurements IN THE TANK with a POS Tek fixture that isn't actively cooled (the increase in intensity with active cooling and quality reflectors has been shown to double the effective output of T5s): http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...&highlight=par

I'd have to spend some time fishing for the other threads with PAR measurements of better quality T5 fixtures. Attempting to draw a comparison of VHO to a quality T5 is insane. The application of a quality reflector coupled with active cooling has repeatedly been shown to produce sufficient lighting to enable the highest light demanding SPS to thrive. As mentioned above, the effective output is nearly double that of a non-cooled lamp without individual reflectors.

If you need to measure it for yourself to feel comfortable, go nuts. I've also got an umbrella handy just in case you want to make sure that you can't jump from a roof in a magically contolled fall like Mary Poppins

[Canadian]

Just in case there was any doubt:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1252186

I saw this thread when it was first posted and just saw there were some new responses.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Canadian

Just in case there was any doubt:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1252186

I saw this thread when it was first posted and just saw there were some new responses.

Andrew.. what exactly does that thread have to do with T5's being better than MH or not

Steve

[Canadian]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Andrew.. what exactly does that thread have to do with T5's being better than MH or not

Steve

The threads I linked to were in response to your quotes:

don't worry about the amount of PAR in the PCs OR T5s in these fixtures, compared to the MH they are nothing and only used for color.

and

My MH put out 680 Units of PAR, my 96 watt VHO super actinics put out 91 units. you think that 91 units realy did anything? remember light is not added togeather when we are talking about intensity and thoes numbers were ate 14" (6 air 8 water) so on the bottom of the tank the VHO dropped offf to 27 where the MH was still about 480. so the coral benifited from the intensity of the MH's PAR output and the VHO was basicly nothing because of the MH's intensity. now if you are only using VHO/PC/T5 then yes you need to have some broader spectrum lights to get the PAR levels and have the blue tinge

Additionally, in reference to the variability in methodology of measuring intensity: keep in mind that T5 reflectors essentially direct the light from the lamp in a wide band whereas the majority of MH reflectors concentrate the light at some point to such an extent that "surfing" for a point of higher intensity will undoubtedly lead to discovery of an extremely brightly lit point. T5 lighting is relatively uniform (with the exception of one end often being brighter due to fixture design and active cooling at the endcap) and may not produce a single point as intense as the MH but averaging the intensity by plotting it in a grid throughout the tank demonstrates that T5 certainly does more than just contribute color when combined with MH.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Canadian

may not produce a single point as intense as the MH but averaging the intensity by plotting it in a grid throughout the tank demonstrates that T5 certainly does more than just contribute color when combined with MH.

exactly! when you measure average the T5's will come up higher. But in the central areas they will not be near as intense as the MH.

On of the other problems is a lot of people are taking the measument for granted.. the standards for the MH everyone is comparing them against is a black box with no reflector. All I am saying is that I would like to do a real world measurment to see how they are. Do you have T5's for your tank you are setting up? we could test them out.

Steve

[Canadian]

Steve,

Part of my rationale for posting that last link is because you can see that 8x80W T5 produced a point in the center of tank with a PAR in excess of 600. This level of PAR is generally regarded as being photoinhibitory and certainly rivals a hot spot produced by many different MH at the same depth in the tank.

I wanted to run a 6x24W T5 ATI Powermodule over my new tank but Proline isn't supporting the distribution of them in Canada anymore so there aren't any Canadian retailers. Consequently, I contacted Reef Geek and inquired about getting one from the US and it was going to take more than 4 months to get one. I looked at getting a FaunaMarin Ultra Solaris but Fauna Marin was having heat issues with the 24" model. So essentially I was screwed and I just caved and went with a Giesemann 230 Plus (150W 13,000K HQI and 2x24W T5 AquaBlue +). Unfortunately the T5 ballast is DOA and now I'm having to wait for Giesemann to send me a replacement that I'll have to swap in.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Canadian

Is this for real? The T5 PAR measurements have been replicated numerous times on RC.

yes there were, and there were also IceCap claims that turned out to be false... problem is it is so easy to fuge readings with these sensors.. hell I can make a 100 watt light bulb put out more PAR than a 400 watt MH by only moving the sensor 1/2" there has also been a lot of debate about the way people were taking T5 readings... so no I don't put any faith in RC anymore.

Steve