T5 Ho or MH?
 

Hi everyone. Im new to the hobby. I wanted to know, I have a 110 Gal Acrylic tank. It is 26" tall (24" Water depth) X 18" Front to back and 60" Wide. I currently have 4-48" 110W Actinics on an Icecap 660 Ballast. I want to know if i should go with a 2-250W 14K MH or the 4-48" 54W T5. Any input will help and would be appreciated. Also, can i use the Icecap 660 to power the T5's?
Thanx Ray

It really depends on what corals you want.

MH will promote better coral growth as well as coloration. If you can afford them then i would. Mh with a T-5 antic strip and you will be a happier reefer.

I've seen tanks with just t5's and they look great

Wait you have a 48" 4 x 54w for a 110 gal? You need at least 6 bulbs

If you go with T5HOs, look at Sunlight Supply's Tek5 fixtures with 6 bulbs. With your tank's depth, these will be adequate for all but the highest light demanding Acros.

OK. I saw the fixture from Sunlight Supply. Does anyone think that I can use my Icecap 660 Ballast and build the retrofit kit myself? I can do the work, but i was wondering if i can use that ballast since it is appearantly good, and maybe save some $ in the process?

Plus I dont want a pendant. I want it like a retrofit kit.
Thanks

If you do retrofit from sunlight supply get the icecap reflector

I would suggest using the icecap ballast if you go with the t5. It will overdrive them to around 83 watts. So you will need a fan on them.
The t5 or mh is up to you. Both are capable of keeping any coral or clam.

I'm sorry to ask so many questions but i want to make sure that im doing the right thing for my livestock and tank. Do you think the icecap can hold the 6 T5 lights? It should do fine unless I'm under the watt rating of the ballast, right?

If you go MH, I would look into 400w (if you want to run 14k or higher kelvin bulbs). The light output of the 14k 250's outside the mid 400 range on the color spectrum is abismal compaired to 10k bulbs. Using 400w makes up for this. However... if you are not placing acro's mid to low in the tank you would be perfectly fine.

I currently use 250w 14k bulbs on a tank 24" high. and when i add new tanks to my basement I will be upgrading my display to 400w.

Mike

I don't want to hijack, but I'm in a similar situation. For all of you that use MH, how many use chillers? I am thinking about two 175 watt MH retros in my canopy or 6 T5's retro.

Hey Duff Man....get your own thread! Im just kidding! We are all here to learn and teach. As far as chillers go, depending on what size tank you have and how far up your tank is, really determines the chiller. Like I said, i have a 110 gal about 4-5 feet up so im using a current usa prime tower chiller 1/3hp. Its range is from 60-80 degrees. I think I can add an optional heater to it if i needed, but i dont need it here in Miami. If i turn off my chiller, my tank will get a tan. Anyway, that chiller is good for tanks up to about 250 gal I believe. That should also be good for either the MH lights or the T5. Keep in mind you may want to look into fans for the lights though, as the chiller cools the water but not the lights. If you keep your lights cool, you will have better performance out of them, especially if you are going to juice them like I am. Guys, if i am wrong please correct me so as i can learn and not mis-lead someone. Just trying to help out like everyone else.

PS Happy New Year to all!!!!!!!!!!! :bum:

I guess I'm trying to stay away from having to use a chiller. The house is air conditioned in the summer and I never had any issues with my PC lights. I was planning on putting a fan in the canopy anyways to account for the additional heat from either and am hoping this can be sufficient.

I think that with PC lights there generally is no problems. I know that with MH you will definitely have to, i think with T5 you will need to also. I was told that I will. I currently have 4 48" VHO's. Before the chiller my temps were fluctuating between 78-85. I put the chiller and im stable at 76. The MH and T5 produce more heat to the water, so I would say use a chiller.

I should probably tell you that my house is air conditioned 24/7 all year round and it didnt help.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11504836#post11504836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yarim [/i]
[B]I'm sorry to ask so many questions but i want to make sure that im doing the right thing for my livestock and tank. Do you think the icecap can hold the 6 T5 lights? It should do fine unless I'm under the watt rating of the ballast, right? [/B][/QUOTE]
No. The bulb length can't exceed 16'. It will run only run four of the 54 watt bulbs.

OK thanx reefergeorge

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11496163#post11496163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drillsar [/i]
[B]Wait you have a 48" 4 x 54w for a 110 gal? You need at least 6 bulbs [/B][/QUOTE]

I think what he's saying is that he has 4x110 VHO lights driven by his icecap 660.

In my opinion, this is very good lighting and lots can be kept. While it's true the bulbs are 48" and the tank is 60", they can be staggered in a 5 foot canopy.

I have a 48" tank and I have 3x110 vho. I have space to add a 4th bulb -- a 24" 95 watt, and I will do that eventually. But my lighting is fine. I have mushrooms, softies, and a few LPS. It's not a very mature tank yet, but everything seems to be thriving.

I would not go with 4 actinic, though. The 4-bulb VHO look I like the best is 2 actinic, 1 50/50 and 1 aquasun.

You will get many opinions on t5 v. vho. Many say that t5 is more effective lighting. There's no doubt that it's easier to work with on a retrofit, because it's smaller and you can add a reflector. It seems to be the way of the future for flourecent lighting, that's for sure. I'm a VHO guy, though. I just like the actinic better.

You could go with MH. In fact, you could keep that icecap balast and drive two actinic vho bulbs to complement MH lighting. The results of MH lighting cannot be denied. But if you're talking about a retrofit, you're looking at considerable expense, plus new heat issues. I don't know what you plan to keep. But on a 24" deep tank that is 5' long, you're all set to go with that icecap. 440w of VHO lighting on a tank that size would be considered by many excellent reefers on these boards as underlit. In my opinion, it's a very nice set up to start keeping some corals. Plus, you're already all set -- you just need new bulbs.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11496163#post11496163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drillsar [/i]
[B]Wait you have a 48" 4 x 54w for a 110 gal? You need at least 6 bulbs [/B][/QUOTE]

Yeah, I agree...I have 5 x T5 (48", 54W) above my 55 gallon tank, with stellar results so far! I picked up the TX5 unit from Aquactinics...so far I think its a great unit. Try to get one with individual reflectors, it makes an insane amount of difference!

I am currently running eight 54 watt t-5 lamps with two Icecap 660 ballasts on my 120 gallon acrylic tank with a mixture of hard and soft corals. I have the Icecap reflectors for each lamp. If you overdrive the lamps like you will with the 660 ballast there is still quite a bit of heat generated. I live in Sacramento California and still have to run a chiller in the summer even with fans blowing across the bulbs in my canopy and the air conditioner on. I am getting a lot of heat from my closed loop Sequence Hammerhead pump also though. I love the t-5 setup myself. There are a lot of different bulb configurations you can get for the look you like. You can power one through four lamps with the 660 ballast. Reefgeek is the best I have come across for lighting a reef tank.

Lights
 

I am pretty new at this but if your the type of person who like looks to the full effect go with mh minimum 250w (in this hobby u like to upgrade to quick might as well go big right away) and either pc or t5 for looks (which are very similar except for energy cost) plus with the mh you get a awesome shimmering effect they are costly but there ton's of used ones on here. but as u can see lots of people run some nice tanks on t5's, pc. Theres a bunch of people who use them that have gotten "tank of the month" imo mh and some pc's

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11505747#post11505747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Duff Man [/i]
[B]I guess I'm trying to stay away from having to use a chiller. The house is air conditioned in the summer and I never had any issues with my PC lights. I was planning on putting a fan in the canopy anyways to account for the additional heat from either and am hoping this can be sufficient. [/B][/QUOTE]


i went thru this same line of thinking myself

have been able to keep temps down during hottest mos to within normal limits - 80-84degrees per day - using multiple fans only... considering i live in the desert - was pretty happy that was able avoid purchasing a chiller - expensive plus more electricity etc.

but think about it - what if your a/c ever went out ???

especially if you have thousands of dollars wrapped up into your system like i do - probably not something you want to lose!

regards

Just depends on how much evap and top off you want to deal with. I have about 110g of total volume and with 2x 250w MH's and fans only, I have to top off about 3-4 gallons per day. If I used a chiller, I doubt the evap would be any more than .5g per day or less.


[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11504979#post11504979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Duff Man [/i]
[B]I don't want to hijack, but I'm in a similar situation. For all of you that use MH, how many use chillers? I am thinking about two 175 watt MH retros in my canopy or 6 T5's retro. [/B][/QUOTE]