calvin Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 Hi All, I had a blond moment. I was actually on about ARCADIA T5 LIGHTS. And ideas, tips or opinions about this brand and type??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AW Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 There is nothing special about T5s They are much brighter. try keeping acropora under NO. would not work. Bulbs last for about a year. you can get normall t5s and Ho t5s. Its the ho that you want as they use electronic ballast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Good one Mark, beat me by seconds why don't you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Hehehehe yeah, must be my faster computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Or my slightly slower 'Great Mind' thinking almost alike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 ummm nah man its the computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 ummm nah man its the computer Don't think so, here's my specs, see if it's fast enough for you. PC: ML350 G3, Dual Xeon 3.06G, 2GB Ram, 73GB Mirrored U320 SCSI, Full Speed Jetstream Link, Windows Server 2003.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Me too, the ML350 would kick it's butt, despite being 64 bit and all. It's also pretty hard to argue with U320 drives that have a 256MB hardware cache. Our DSL is 8mb. Sound like the boys trying to make up for some other deficiency yet?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Big computer small tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Ohhh and if your counting 'our' connection as in work, 1000mbs via citylink. 8mb, pffftt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 I feel sorry for you both. Windows. really :roll: Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Geez does this mean its time to crank up my 486 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 hehe reminds me of shrek 1 - PC envy Do you think he's compensating for something donkey? post from a 300MHz Pentium 1 toshiba portege laptop! missing return key (very annoying).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Now why did I just know I'd get this type of response... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Because you were busy whipping around your specs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cees Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Should I split this topic ?? btw, linux(several flavours) on a bunch of old pentiums etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cees Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 just checked. It wasn't even a pentium but an athlon, whatever, can't type that fast anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.