T5's...efficient for indoor propagation?

[sammy33]

I have a small three tank propagation system that I am working on setting up and have considered using T5's as the light source. It would seem that T5's are an efficient choice considering the low power usage and longer bulb life. I have MH and PC lighting on some of my other aquariums but have not used T5 (yet).

I would be interested in hearing some opinions on the use of T5 for indoor coral propagation especially from those of you that have used it. How is the growth and coloration of corals compared to MH, VHO or PC?

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Sammy and :welcome:

I'm going to move this into the main discussion forum for you so you get some feedback...

 

[Anonymous]

Well power is power, and when it comes down to it that's what makes corals grow. You'll find if you do some research that many metal halides lamps actually have slightly higher lumen per watt than t5 bulbs. That being said you won't save much in the way of money by going to t5 bulbs.

Although this is still one of those arguments of tastes great/better filling. But either way you go you should be fine, shallower longer tanks will benifit more from T5 bulbs because they simply can cover more space, but if you have a deeper tank then MH bulbs will be able to penetrate more energy.

There's a reason though many commercial propagators use metal halides though, they tend to be a better choice because you can put more power over a smaller area.

 

[sammy33]

ChrisRD: Thank you for the warm welcome and the move to more productive waters.

sfsuphysics: The tanks I have for the prop system are 24Lx18Wx12H. So being only 12" high I was thinking that T5's might be a good choice considering efficiency.

I have chosen a short list of soft corals as I have identified most of these as fast growers and medium to medium-high light corals:

• Zoanthid - Zoanthus sp.
• Ricordea - Ricordea florida
• Green Star Polyps - Pachyclavularia sp.
• Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral, Green Polyp - Sarcophyton sp.
• Spaghetti Finger Leather Coral, Neon Green - Sinularia flexibis
• Mushrooms – Actinodiscus sp.
• Pom-Pom - Xenia sp.
• Pulse Coral - Xenia elongate

The other reason for choosing these corals is they will not demand a load of calcium supplementation like SPS (acropora, montipora etc.) would require. These corals seem to have similar care requirements and would likely grow well in a shared system.

Back to my lighting question - I have searched for some comparison data (MH vs. T5) but have not found anything other than hobbyists observations. I know that Sanjay Joshi has a site with MH data - is there something similar for T5 data?

 

[Anonymous]

oh yah those corals would work fine for a prop system.

 

[sammy33]

I put google to work finding some actual data on MH vs. T5. Since my prop tanks are 24" wide I based my comparions on 24" 24w (x3 for 72w) T5 HO vs. a single 70w DE Mh lamp. This was as "apples to apples as I could find.

Note that I still did not find any PPFD/PAR data for either of these stlye lamps. This comparison is also raw lamp data and does not take into consideration reflectors, ballasts or other variables.

Take a look at the chart and you can see that the T5 lamps have an edge in bulb life, initial lumens and cost. It would be interesting to see if the PAR data compares?

Now what I am wondering is if that translates into comparable growth and coloration for corals. I would likely combine 65K or 10K lamps with actinic to acheive nice color anyway so I would think that coloration would be good. My prop tanks are only 12" deep so water penetration would not be a big issue.

Hmm? :?

Data Sources:
http://www.ushio.com/Files/Aqualite.pdf
http://www.eye.co.jp/catalogue/images/pdf/P18.pdf
http://www.litecontrol.com/stuff/conten ... _final.pdf

 

[ChrisRD]

I think as you've implied already, it's tough to make any meaningful performance comparisons without knowing reflector performance, PAR, spectral data, etc.

One problem I see is with the lamp life comparison. It appears that you're comparing halides that are being rated for an aquarium application against T-5s that are being rated for commercial applications. If you look around you'll see that halides get similar 20,000 hour ratings when the intended use is a commercial application. In the hobby we change out our lamps very early - before there is a significant loss of output or spectral shift. Most commercial applications just run 'em til they die. :wink:

With the 6500K lights you're looking at I would not expect any major difference in lamp life between halides and T-5s. For example, Iwasaki 6500K halides last a LONG time - many run them for 2 years over prop tanks. I wouldn't expect any more than that from the T-5s. Also, I would not worry about using actinics over prop tanks.

All that said, I think you'll be fine with either setup. I would figure out what system would be cheaper to setup and maintain (power, lamp replacement, etc.) and go with that.

JMO & HTH