T5HO Best Prices & Best Color

[jmc74]

Ok, I will be Modding my Odyssea to 4 T5HO 48"since each is 54w, I will be using the stock Dual 65w PC bulb Ballast (I have 2)
(right now it has 4x 65w PC Actinic Blue),

I currently use Phoneix 14k DE with CoralVue EBallast, what color combination on the T5HO should I get to have the best color POP?


also anyone know a good place to get the T5's cheap?


my fixture will have 2 bulbs per side and it is 48"

here is a shot of my tank (side) as you can see the colors are not bright enough


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/847292482_b9281dcda5_b.jpg

front

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1060/846423867_088b44a54c_b.jpg

and a quick shot of one of my fixtures as it turns on...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/841802719_b614642937_o.jpg

[jmc74]

BTW, this is what i founs so far...

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/

[Lordhelmet]

i tried the UV super actinic and the regular blue plus everyone gets. the super actinic is a bit purple to pink with the blue plus being very blue.

I'm not sure you will get an amazing POP but it will be a big inprovment over your PC's

[sfsuphysics]

You changed ballasts/bulbs on the MH portion of it? Did they crap out on you or something?

Ok, I will be Modding my Odyssea to 4 T5HO 48"since each is 54w, [b]I will be using[b] the stock Dual 65w PC bulb Ballast (I have 2)
(right now it has 4x 65w PC Actinic Blue),

This is confusing, you say you're modding TO a T5HO setup, yet you say you'll be using PC bulbs?
Are you leaving 2 of the PC bulbs in, and the other side changing to T5s?

Personally in my t5 setup, I run 2 "daylight +" (I think that's an 11k rated bulb), and a couple super blue bulbs (they're not actinic purple, but they put out a lot more light than actinic bulbs). It's hard to say though with the two phoenix bulbs in there, you might want to toss some daylight bulbs just to whiten it all out a bit, so the blue doesn't over saturated everything yet the fluorescence still is there.

It's really hard to tell not knowing exactly what color is coming off that Bulb/Ballast combo you have for your MH lamps, since they won't look the same on another ballast.

[jmc74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10565840#post10565840 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sfsuphysics
You changed ballasts/bulbs on the MH portion of it? Did they crap out on you or something?



This is confusing, you say you're modding TO a T5HO setup, yet you say you'll be using PC bulbs?
Are you leaving 2 of the PC bulbs in, and the other side changing to T5s?

Personally in my t5 setup, I run 2 "daylight +" (I think that's an 11k rated bulb), and a couple super blue bulbs (they're not actinic purple, but they put out a lot more light than actinic bulbs). It's hard to say though with the two phoenix bulbs in there, you might want to toss some daylight bulbs just to whiten it all out a bit, so the blue doesn't over saturated everything yet the fluorescence still is there.

It's really hard to tell not knowing exactly what color is coming off that Bulb/Ballast combo you have for your MH lamps, since they won't look the same on another ballast.


no, sorry if I confused you...

ok, my fixture has dual 250w MH, and I just changed the bulbs to a phoenix 14k, also I replaced the ballast to CoralVue 250w eballst (2x), but the PC's don't make a diference, the MH are so strong and the PC's are cheap and they don't provide enough actinic, even as I just bought new bulbs that were sold as 420nm.

so i want to remove the PC's and mod the ifture to take T5HO, currently the fixture has 2 PC per side, each is 65w and it is controlled by a dual bulb eballast, so I have 4 PC's and 2 eballast on the fixture, I was thinking about removing the pc's and sockets, and rewire the eballast to power 2 T5HO per side, each of the T5 is 54w, so it may be either overdriven by 9w per bulb, or if true that eballast don't overdrive, then they should run at the correct wattage...


but I just found out that PC's ballast should not be used for T5's
:(

[sfsuphysics]

Before putting the time in to mod, I would test out the t5 bulbs without a fixture, because quite honestly I doubt t5s will add enough actinic punch to out compete 250w bulbs.

What actinics will do is help make yellower bulbs not so yellow, but you're already getting a fluorescence from the 14k bulbs, any additional from actinics will be negligible at best.

Now if you toss a 110w VHO over each side then you may add a little, but stilly probably not terribly much.

[jmc74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10566638#post10566638 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sfsuphysics
Before putting the time in to mod, I would test out the t5 bulbs without a fixture, because quite honestly I doubt t5s will add enough actinic punch to out compete 250w bulbs.

What actinics will do is help make yellower bulbs not so yellow, but you're already getting a fluorescence from the 14k bulbs, any additional from actinics will be negligible at best.

Now if you toss a 110w VHO over each side then you may add a little, but stilly probably not terribly much.

so you say that 1 VHO 110w per side is stronger than 2 54w T5HO perside... :confused:

VHO = 110w
T5HO x2= 108w

[DarG]

If you can put individual reflectors on the T5's they will kick the crap out of the VHO's.

I can tell you this because I just tried it ... I built my light rack to be able to use either VHO or T5 with my halides. I am using an IceCap ballast so the 48" T5's are running at 80 - 85 watts. I swapped my one UVL Super actinic T5 for a UVL super actinic VHO 110 watt. The T5 is under an SLR reflector. The VHO stayed in there for about 10 minutes. With the reflector the T5 was the stronger bulb. Standard 54 watt, I dont know. But Overdriven it was an easy decision. Two 54 watt actinics with reflectors is not going to be a close. But if you cant use reflectors for the T5's, go with the VHO. The T5 already has the VHO beat in Lumens per watt. Something like 70 lumens per watt for VHO and 90 for T5 (or close to that). But, add the T5 reflector and output, penetration and spread is at a whole other level.

Also, ATI Blue Plus T5 is much more effective at blueing up a halide than super actinic is. If you are looking to really supplement the halides with some blue, use the blue plus. The super actinic has an effect but not nearly as much as the Blue plus. You can mix as well. 2 Super actinics and 2 Blue plus or whatever combination makes you happy, colorwise.

[jmc74]

well, I don't have the space for individual reflectors, but the fixture has a reflector for the PC's and it is somewhat curved, so if I mix two bulbs (ATI & super actinic) per side you think it will work? or am I wasting my $, since I can't put the reflectors

[cboberg]

Saltycritter.com has the nicest T5 packages I've seen.

I'm running an Ice Cap ballast with UV brand bulbs and Giessman German bulbs. (Love them)