How many are running T5's exclusively vs. T5's with Halides?

[summer6]

For those with T5 only lighting - do you miss the shimmering effect in the tank?
I would think that combining halides with T5's would be the best alternative, except for the heat issue.
Any thoughts are welcomed.

[Obi-dad]

I had all T5s and liked them, but missed the shimmer I had with the previous MH tank. So I took out a couple of the T5s and put in a diy retrofit MH using power compact reflectors - not the ideal reflector, but narrow enough so I could still keep 4 T5s over my 75g. With that many T5s I can run 175w MH instead of 250s. Heat is more than just T5s, but I love the shimmer.

[superedge88]

I run only T5, eight 4 foot bulbs over a 150 tall. No shimmer, but great color.

[Crush Coral]

I have 260 watts of PCs and 1 40 watt 20,000k florescent on my 75. There is a great article on lighting on this site which in a nut shell states that 100 watts of light whether MH, PC or T5s is equal to each other. The only coral I am having problems with is my porites, but I think it is because I am not running a skimmer yet.

[trmiv]

36" Aquactinics TX5 T5 only over my 65g. I like it so far, the color is great, and it puts next to no heat into the tank. Like others have mentioned, I do miss the shimmer I had with halides, so my halide days may not be over. I will eventually upgrade this tank, and I will likely go back to halides with T5 supplements.

[barjam]

I had T5 for a year and a half and ended up not liking them. I now run MH + T5. For me it was the lack of shimmer and the bulb colors. If you want a very blue tank T5 does well but if you want a more daylight tank they don't do as well as the output is very peaky so you end up with a huge green spike to deal with. I don't mean to say the water is green, I mean the color doesn't look right to me. There are a ton of people who love the color of T5s over that of MH so it is a personal thing, obviously.

For me 2x250 + 2x54 runs cooler than 4x54, believe it or not (open lighting vs fixture). On top of that my tank actually runs warmer at night (lights off except 75w refugium lighting) than the day. I cheat though, my room is an in wall tank in the basement so the ambient air is 65-68 degrees... two 4 inch fans on low are more than enough to cool it.

[summer6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11583256#post11583256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barjam
I had T5 for a year and a half and ended up not liking them. I now run MH + T5. For me it was the lack of shimmer and the bulb colors. If you want a very blue tank T5 does well but if you want a more daylight tank they don't do as well as the output is very peaky so you end up with a huge green spike to deal with. I don't mean to say the water is green, I mean the color doesn't look right to me. There are a ton of people who love the color of T5s over that of MH so it is a personal thing, obviously.

For me 2x250 + 2x54 runs cooler than 4x54, believe it or not (open lighting vs fixture). On top of that my tank actually runs warmer at night (lights off except 75w refugium lighting) than the day. I cheat though, my room is an in wall tank in the basement so the ambient air is 65-68 degrees... two 4 inch fans on low are more than enough to cool it.
Would you please clarify what you mean by "open lighting," does that mean fixture(s) suspended over an open tank?

[Donnie77]

I run 7 54w t5, aquatinics, low heat, low watts, great color

[Putawaywet]

I'm running just under 1000 watts of t5 (12x80w) and I'm surprised to find I have more shimmer lines on the sandbed than I thought I would. It's more obvious right under the pump returns where the surface is more turbulent, but they're there. I still have 4 Vortec's to get going and I suspect that will increase the lines even more.

Right now, with my fixture's internal fans not working I'm stuck using a portable fan to keep the lighting unit cool and it's actually bleeding heat from my tank when the lights are on. Kind of strange to have a tank that holds a steady temp at night, but loses heat by day when the lights on, but it's just a temporary fix. No doubt I'll see temps behaving a bit differently once the light is working as it should.

Brett

[barjam]

summer6, yes. My T5 unit was a fixture that more or less covered the tank. The new MH/T5 unit was DIY... basically it was a chunk of wood shaped like a capital I and very open. Since my tank is in wall it doesn't matter what it looks like.

[95accord]

2x54w T5HO over a 55gal FOWLR...no shimmer....nice color.

im thinking about adding some LED's for some extra low cost shimmer effect ;) ...also double as moon lighting

[kydsexy]

i run a 2x24w T5 now and i get the the shimmer like 95 accord with the blue leds. i love them!

[barjam]

2x shimmers ok on it's own assuming enough surface agitation... when you get into 4x+ is when the shimmers go away. Actually they don't go completely away they are just very small it seems (assuming enough surface agitation).

[summer6]

I never would have known that you could get any shimmer with a t5, or blue led's.
I personally love the look of the shimmering daylight - probably since I don't have it!
If a tank owner has both MH/T5's do they only run the T5's for the actinic dawn to dusk effect, or do they run WITH the MH for part of the light cycle for coral growth?

[barjam]

I run them all the time although they don't make much of a difference look wise... it is pretty subtle.

[lewismw]

I just moved from exculisive Metal Halides (3 x 400W) to exclusively T5's ( 8 x 36" ).
I am still playing with the color but the tank is so much more visible now. I just don't like the spot light effect and shadows that metal Halides create. There are very little shadows due to very even light distribution. Heat is wonderful and i am now using less energy in all 8 eight bulbs as 1 of my metal halides. Enough said.