Ok, let's hear it!

[kien]

Originally Posted by LoJack

Glad you think I have one of the nicest tanks ever ... Just Kidding lol

But seriously, this is the same reason I bought the ATI 8 Bulb. The nicest tank I've ever seen is the July 2010 TOTM on ReefCentral by Lunar

He runs a 10 bulb powermodule, but I bought the 8 bulb Sunpower because thats what I had room for.

And with active cooling, bulbs are good for a year with the ATI fixtures as opposed to 6-8 months with most others.

I love T-5 ... I won't change as long as it's available.

We've had a few TOTMs on here that ran T5s as well. Lobsterboy's and Fishytime's tanks just to name a couple. Both of those tanks definitely inspired me when I was but a reef padawan back in the day. T5s rock!

[Coralgurl]

Interesting thread, has me thinking. I ran a 2 bulb T5 unit and supplemented with LEDs. I had amazing coral growth with this combo, great colors (no sps), to the point that my corals were too big for the tank. I moved to Radions on my 180 and have lost every single one of my first three corals. Not to bleaching or anything, not exactly sure why they died. some corals have done amazingly well, others, not so much. I do know I am not seeing the same success on the 180 to what I saw in the 55. Is it lights, is it maintenance, not sure, but definitely something to think about.

[lastlight]

[thmh]

Originally Posted by waynemah

For now I'm going 3 Blue+, 3 Aquablue Special and 2 Purple+. Worst case scenario is I kill everything and start over (love watching frags turn into colonies).

I would do 4 blue +, 2 coral+ and 2 purple +.

~Tony

[Magickiwi]

[quote=mike31154;849315].... in a few years you'll more than likely have a hard time finding replacement bulbs/tubes & if you do, they'll be very costly, especially the ones specific to our hobby. /QUOTE]

You mean like $110/bulb?

[thmh]

Originally Posted by kien

Huh. Apparently someone forgot to tell this guy

Lmao!

~Tony

[AdamsB]

The people talking about MH am t5, I assume you're not referring to cheap Chinese models. eBay is swamped with those. Is there a huge difference between a Phoenix or Radium compared to a $12 dollar Chinese bulb? Same for the t5, how different can a cheap model be?

I've never owned MH an I've only seen one tank with them, an LFS that switched to fluval LED because it was cheaper than replacing a blown bulb and ballast.

[kien]

Originally Posted by AdamsB

eBay is swamped with those. Is there a huge difference between a Phoenix or Radium compared to a $12 dollar Chinese bulb? Same for the t5, how different can a cheap model be?

There is quite a difference, but sometimes there isn't a difference, and here's why..

I tried out cheap eBay halides (14K) for a year back in 2011/2012. The bulbs were so cheap that I bought like 6 of them at once. I even went for the more expensive $30 eBays. For me that would have been two years worth of halides as I run 3x250 watts and change them yearly (typically). I discovered a few interesting things along the way. First off, when I got a good batch of bulbs, they were virtually indistinguishable from the more expensive bulbs. However, getting a good bulb proved to be the challenge. Out of 6 bulbs that I purchased from two different vendors on eBay, 1 of the bulbs only lasted a few months (like 3), before it crapped out. Another bulb appeared to be dirty (black coating on the bulb) that appeared as if it had been used previously. It had a 10K colour cast on it right out of the box even though I bought a 14K. With the 4 remaining (somewhat decent) bulbs, I discovered that they got exhausted much sooner than the typical 1 year that I got out of the more expensive bulbs. At around the 7 or 9 month mark I could tell that they had colour shifted dramatically towards the 10K. As a result, I ended up tossing the lot and going back to Phoenix bulbs. I have never had a problem with the more expensive brand name bulbs. Yes, I know, you get what you pay for. If you don't mind having to swap out the cheap eBay bulbs more often, or frequently getting a dud, then eBays are fine :-)

I think it comes down to quality control, as with anything that comes off of eBay from China. The more expensive brands tend to put more money and effort into quality control and will toss out batches that don't make the cut. The eBayers will snatch those garbaged bulbs up and sell them to you.

[typezero]

Originally Posted by kien

I like your attitude

Are you new to T5s? I don't recall hearing anyone say they bleached their corals from T5s. T5 light is so uniform, enveloping and smooth. It doesn't blast out light like LEDs and halides. The only sucky thing is having to replace all those bulbs. Some people replace T5s every 6 months

Ohhh kien..... Your enveloping and smooth

[kien]

Originally Posted by typezero

Ohhh kien..... Your enveloping and smooth

That was just one time.. and i thought we agreed to keep it on the down low.