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Arcadia T5 Lighting


calvin

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I thinking of using T5 for my new setup also. Good lamp life and cheap to run seems to be the generally accepted view of them. Anybody with some real life experince that has also used MH and NO Fluros?

Allthough I do like the effect of single point sources of MH lamps.

Actually, anybody still using NO Fluros?

Cheers

Andrew

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I use T5s. Although they are a good option, as easier and cheaper than NO fluros there are some untruths about them.

Bulb life is the biggest dissapointment. Expect to chance the bulbs ever 6-9 months. I know they claim zillions of hours of bubls life, but the consensious is 9 months max for the aquirums.

There is nothing special about T5s, they are just smaller diamater fluros. My 5 footers are 84 watt, so a better option the VHO fluros, which use physically bigger tubes.

My new tank will use MHs and I am not sure if I will use the T5s or not. I may just leave them off and use NO fluros for some blue.

Pies

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Even though my T5 only works on two out of its four fittings, my corals are much healthier. I changed from power glos and marine glos, 4x4ft and 1x2ft to the Arcadia quad T5. I like the fact that I can have lids on and they don't produce to much heat compared to a MH.

They claim the tubes have four times the light output of a standard fluro (T8). You can buy cheap T5 tubes but these only put out a lower amount of light.

Tube are meant to last X amount of hours, say 8000. That would be 12 hours a day for almost two years. Get your LFS to date the tubes with a vivid when you buy them. If they blow after 6-9 months of normal use then there is either a tube fault or a light fault. You can then take it back to the shop with proof of how old it is (who keeps reciepts).

Arcadia did have a tube fault. I had six tubes go in 9 months. My light also has a ballast fault.

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PetPlanet - You don't understand. Its got nothing to do with the bulbs blowing. Its the fact that the bulbs loose their intenseitiy after 6-9 months. Same as metal halides. I have no doubt they won't blow, thats not the point, its the usefull life span. Take a new bulb, and one you have been running for 6 months. The difference is obvious. Its the same with Halies, I have NEVER had one blow, but I still replace them. Don't belive me? Get online and have a read, its very well documented with light meters and all the science.

THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT T5s. To say it again incase you missed it. They are just simple fluro tubes. The extra light output is from the 'gull wing' reflectors and from the diamater of the bulbes, smaller tubes means you can fit more under you hood in the same space, this is where they gain their advantage.

Reef - they are brighter because they are stronger, not because they are special. Ever noticed how a 400 watt metal halide is brighter than a 150? Maybee the 400watt bulb is just special, but I suspect the answer is a little more obvious.

As for keeping SPS corals under T5s. Look on UR, dozens of people on there running SPS tanks on T8s. Maybee they are special T8s...

It may sound like I am against T5s, but remember I own them, and they are better than T8 fluros. But not by much. And they are far from special.

Pie

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Beware of the claimed hours lifetime. While the bulb may function and have good light output for the stated time, the light spectrum may change significantly after half that time. Once critical frequencies are burned out your corals will suffer. If 2 years is the calculated life, a good rule of thumb is to replace your lamps at half that time, - every year...

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t5's come in ho dont they this does make them more intence than no ie more watts per foot, is this the subject at hand or are you talking about lumens per watt, i read t5's are MARGINALLY more efficient in lumens per watt because there is less surface area of glass to diffuse the light which makes scence but i doubt it would be a tangable figure, although there is a thread on rc about t5's and how some people like them better

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Athlon64(90nm Winchestor), 2GB DDR400 RAM, 10K RAPTOR SATA HDD x3 (RAID), 6800Ultra video, 1000bastT network, 2mb xDSL, WinXP64.

I know which machine I would rather own :)

BTW you don't want to buy some 3.6 Xenon Processors do you? We may be able to working something out. I also have some HP 1GB ECC DDR modules for sale (4x). All brand new.

Pieuter

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