ReeferKris Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) Time had come to place the yearly tank maintenance order through Foster Smith. With this I usually place my bulbs, RODI cartridges and addititives on order. This time I did something a bit different for me. I ordered 2 48" 420nm T5HO (85w) and 2 48" 10k T5HO (85w). The reason this is different is because I am going to attempt to make the switch from VHO to T5HO and Im not too sure what to expect. I keep mainly LPS and softies with a Derassa clam (over a year under VHO and doing great) and my rose bubbles. From my understanding of things, the T5HO's will be overdriven by my IceCap 660 and that the intensity of the T5HO's is greater than VHO with the understanding that I have a good reflector (which I do). That all said I am kind of re-thinking my decision on the order due to the terrible idea that I will be losing some color that the VHO's produce. Can anyone here put my mind at ease by posting a picture of their tank run strictly on T5HO's? I would like to see what to expect before they ship them out tomorrow. Thank you. Kris Edited January 7, 2008 by ReeferKris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I am running strictly T5s and love it. Make the switch and don't look back. with the icecap I think you will be running at close to 110 watts per bulb. You are welcome to come check my tank out. I just arranged the rock. In the process I broke my favorite acro, but NBD. Grow has been great under the T5s and they put out a TON of light. Also check out Mojos tank. It is strctly T5s and real nice as well. Here is my blog about the tank?. Lately I have been taking the worst pics, but you get the idea. Mojo's blog? Also, check out Zeovit.com and tell me tanks can't thrive under T5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I think you will be fine, but I would like to point out a couple of concerns I would have. First I would ask what reflectors you are using. The T5's work best with individual reflectors and not so well without them. Also I don't think all IceCap 660's will drive T5's properly so you might need to send you ballast in for service at IceCap. Other than that you only have to worry about color since the T5's are going to be at least (at the bare minimum) equal to the VHO's par wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirReal63 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Icecap 660 will drive 4-48" (54 watt is correct for 4' bulbs) T5's to approx. 80 watts each. This will cause the bulbs to run hotter and active cooling of the bulbs is needed to keep them from losing life and par. There is no need to send in the ballast to icecap, it will only drive 4 bulbs though. FWIW an icecap 430 will only drive two bulbs. Par will be greater than the VHO's...much greater...if the correct reflectors such as icecap sls or ati reflectors are used. The color is different on the 420's with T5 than it was with the URI Superactintics. Be careful with what you order from DFS as they do not always have the latest and greatest in lighting and tend to sell lesser stuff for premium prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferKris Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 I was planning on using the reflector that I currently use for the VHO's ( I know they dont need reflectors but I still use one) It is extremely polished and I think should work fine until I can replace the reflectors to the individual ones. Also, the bulbs that I ordered ARE 85w a piece and are NOT the 54w bulbs that seem to be standard to T5's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Reefgeek is a great place to buy T5 bulbs. You can also support your local shops and get them at Kingfish(for the same price). I really like the Sfiligoi super actinic. I am 90% sure the 660 will overdrive the bulbs. From what I have read it shifts daylight bulbs toward more "white," but I don't know what the shift would be in actinics. BTW to get the full advantage of T5 you REALLY need individual reflectors. The Icecap reflectors are supposed to be top notch. You already have them on the way. Go ahead and plug them in and see what happens. The worst thing is you think they suck. Right? Active cooling is also a great idea. It will increase the output by 30% and bump up your PAR. If you are worried about PAR check into the Blue+ bulbs. They are blue, not really crazy actinic, and have great par for supplemental light. Please let us know what you think once you get the bulbs installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirReal63 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 85 watt would be the new VHO T5's. Cool, I haven't seen those yet. I agree with the blue + bulbs, excellent par and not a bad color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chark Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Reefgeek is a great place to buy T5 bulbs. You can also support your local shops and get them at Kingfish(for the same price). I really like the Sfiligoi super actinic. I am 90% sure the 660 will overdrive the bulbs. From what I have read it shifts daylight bulbs toward more "white," but I don't know what the shift would be in actinics. BTW to get the full advantage of T5 you REALLY need individual reflectors. The Icecap reflectors are supposed to be top notch. You already have them on the way. Go ahead and plug them in and see what happens. The worst thing is you think they suck. Right? Active cooling is also a great idea. It will increase the output by 30% and bump up your PAR. If you are worried about PAR check into the Blue+ bulbs. They are blue, not really crazy actinic, and have great par for supplemental light. Please let us know what you think once you get the bulbs installed. What is active cooling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 fans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 More specifically, the fans need to be blowing directly onto the T5 lamps. It does very little to blow air between the lamps and the water, which is what people traditionally do to dissipate heat from MH bulbs. Another PAR monster is the ATI Aquasun, although I'm not very partial to its color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferKris Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 (edited) Well, I recieved the shipment of bulbs two days ago. All of them were broken. Then I find out that the stands and end caps weren't going to be here until this coming Wednesday, then when I called to tell them about the bulbs, they said that they were in fact only 54 watt bulbs and not the advertised 85 watt bulbs. I was upset and they said that they would ship out the correct bulbs overnight and I got them today. They were still the 54 watt but were in tact. I then look on the boxes of the bulbs and find out that they are actuall 46" instead of 48" which means a lot to me because of the way my hood is designed. I am frustrated beyond belief and Foster Smith acts like it's no big deal at all. They have false advertised twice in this on order and haven't bothered to compensate for my frustration or inconvenience. What would you do? A ) Keep the 46", deal with it and move on not dealing with Foster Smith. B ) Hold them liable for the misrepresentation somehow. (If so, how? What would you want them to do?) C ) Send the whole order back and never deal with them again. I got the Aquasun bulbs and the 420nm actinics. Edited January 13, 2008 by GKarshens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Send them back at their expense and order from reefgeek or Kingfishand never look back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I agree w/the reply above and go w/someone more reliable. When it comes to bulbs, the packaging and handling is important for customers to receive undamaged merchandise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4R00P3R Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I've never had a problem with F&S. I've ordered several hundred dollars worth of corals and fish from them and I love them. They should definately give you a refund. In this case though, you should probably buy locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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