lighting advice /t5's

[stuckey_t]

So i am thinking of adding some actinic supplement to my tank in order to flouresce my corals a bit more and frankly I'm pretty clueless on flourescent lighting. Is it better nowadays to use T5's for actinic supplement or do most people just stay with the VHOS still. I definitely like the smaller size of the t5's and figure I can put 2 bulbs next together in the space a single VHO might go. Is the bang for the buck worth considering this and if so is the money worth it to spend on the icecap ballasts or should i just get the electronic workhorse ones....any suggestions, thoughts, or comments. Especially anyone who has seen my tank or knows a lot about t5's:tongue:

[spsick]

what I do know is that t5s take up pretty much that same amount of space as they use the same endcaps as vhos. and that you're getting abou the same output with about half the watts, which if you have a sizeable system, you're using so many watts as it is, wont really be making any inpact on your xcel bill. just my 2 cents.

[morty]

Thought I heard a rumor that VHOs were going to become harder to get, but I still decided to use them in my own system because they're dimmable with icecap ballasts.

(But I learned later that Advance also makes a ballast for dimming T5's, if having them dimmable is something you'd be interested in)
http://www.advancetransformer.com/products/fluorescent-electronic.jsp?pbid=10

I'm curious too about actinics. I know there are different types of actinic light, and it seems like the kind that flouresces the best is the "dim" one that sort of acts like a black light bulb -- is this the '03 bulb? If they're available in T5s, that might be the best way to go.

[David Grigor]

T5s with Icecap reflectors use up 3" of space. So no you can't fit as many T5s in the same spot as VHOs. But because of the reflector the amount of light reaching the tank will be more than with VHO & internal reflectors. You can angle the reflector to point the light more towards the center of the tank which is nice vs. VHOs.

The main concern I have with using T5s as supplemental. Is just how much heat is being generated by the MH and how close do you plan to put them. Heat is a big enemy of T5 output more so than with VHOs.

As far as color goes, I like the UVL super actinic T5s but they aren't exactly the same as VHOs. You get a bit deeper purple color with VHOs but if your not comparing side by side there isn't a huge difference and corals still flouresce very nicely with T5 actinics.

While I have 5 Icecap ballast sitting around so if I really thought it was the better way to go I'd be using them now. I personally don't think the overdriven is worth the hype particularly if you can't keep the bulbs cool. The programmed start ballasts is what I would do over both the Workhorse and the Icecap.

[epidemic]

stagger a few 48inch-ers. That would be hot;)