T8 Vs T5

[andywg]

I'm not sure on your replacement periods OPCN.

Most of the info I can find seems to indicate MH are rated for 9,000 to 12,000 hours (with some going up to 40,000). The T5s I can see for sale are stating up to 15,000. I don't see that as a 3 times as often replacement. Most of the info I on RC when I was there was 12 month changes for both sets of lights to maintain optimum lumens (the only real way to tell would be with a lumen tester).

Also, having had a tank with both T5 and MH I can say that the lighting effect of the MH has a far better ability to punch the light further into the tank. T5s are fine if you have a small tank, but the moment the tank gets large they don't do the job as well without overdriving, and then they lose a lot of their benefits.

6,500K is good for almost all the corals we keep. I seem to recall reading 90% of the corals we keep come from within 10 metres of the surface where there is not that great a loss of the red end of the spectrum. The thought that the corals we keep NEED higher colour temps is one of the great misunderstandings of reefkeeping, like the belief that corals NEED actinics.

The only reason to have the higher colours is for asthetics. There was someone on this forum a while ago looking for info on a 400W HPS and he managed to find a decent bulb to light his tank.

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

one of the most important things when looking into t5 ot t8 lamps is you need to see if the fish like t5 lamps. I know of 6 people with shallow tanks but large (wide tanks) and they had t5s installed and they had fish dieing all the time or freaking out.
The changed everything then when they changed the lighting it was all fixed. the fish stoped dieing and the started to be more relaxed.

The fish were top feeders and they belive it was the frequency of the light was acting like a strobe light to the fish.

#hit if had to live with a strob light every day i dont think i would live to long.

I have made an article of the types of lighting. click on the link

Types of Lighting

If anyone want to add to the lighting article please feel free to write it at the base or send me a PM and i will add it to the article

 

[BOD]

Probably about to ask the dumbest questions ever buuuuuuut with the arcadia T5 I bar how do you plug it in lol! do you have to buy a starter to attach to it or what???