- Location
- NY
NYreefNoob said:
Was: 4 39w Aquablue Specials and 4 39w blue plus. No actinic (same as Ming
Leslie mentioned in her opening post that it was an 8 bulb fixture, using:
4 - 39w Aquablue Specials, and,
4 - 39w blue plus
MH vs. T5
- Thread starter LeslieS
- Start date
Leslie mentioned in her opening post that it was an 8 bulb fixture, using:
4 - 39w Aquablue Specials, and,
4 - 39w blue plus
bad coffee
Inept at life.
- Location
- Location: Location:
this thread is useless without pics.
and what did you do with your old fixture?
B
and what did you do with your old fixture?
B
Pics don't make sense because I don't have any recent pics with the old lights and couldn't take a fair comparison as one of the old fixtures is broken. I'll post a tank pic in my tank thread later. (If I can find it
I am going to sell the remaining unbroken fixture. Dace will have first dibs, but I'll pm anyone who is interested or post a for sale thread. The broken fixture still has two bulbs that work fine. I may e-mail the company for replacement parts or just keep it around for quarantine. Although, my qt tank is only 20 gallons so it will look pretty funny!
I am going to sell the remaining unbroken fixture. Dace will have first dibs, but I'll pm anyone who is interested or post a for sale thread. The broken fixture still has two bulbs that work fine. I may e-mail the company for replacement parts or just keep it around for quarantine. Although, my qt tank is only 20 gallons so it will look pretty funny!
- Location
- NY
Maybe offer up a trade to someone who might have an appropriate fixture for your 20g
swimmer
- Location
- poughquag, ny
what type of fixture is it ?
- Location
- poughquag, ny
individual reflector's ? and not to go off track with what you are doing, but if they dont have the individual reflectors it would be a different comparison from t5 to mh, but i do understand you are comparing what you had to what you have now in difference, you have mainly lps dont you leslie ?
- Location
- Marine Park
You definitely need individual reflectors for T5s but it really doesn't matter in terms of T5 or MH. For example;
I was thinking of setting a up 75 gallon tank. I could do:
6 regular T5 bulbs= 324 watts
or
two 175watt MH=350 watts
the other option is
6 overdriven T5s=480watts
or
two 250watt MHs=500 watts
Same amount of watts either way. Also heat wise, fluorescent and MH are damn near identical. It's true, wives tales aside there is an RC thread with links to (can't remember the government agency as I'm doped up on allergy medicine). IIRC around 17% of the energy put into a MH bulb was given off as heat whereas 18% of energy put into a fluorescent bulb was given off as heat.
I was thinking of setting a up 75 gallon tank. I could do:
6 regular T5 bulbs= 324 watts
or
two 175watt MH=350 watts
the other option is
6 overdriven T5s=480watts
or
two 250watt MHs=500 watts
Same amount of watts either way. Also heat wise, fluorescent and MH are damn near identical. It's true, wives tales aside there is an RC thread with links to (can't remember the government agency as I'm doped up on allergy medicine). IIRC around 17% of the energy put into a MH bulb was given off as heat whereas 18% of energy put into a fluorescent bulb was given off as heat.
- Location
- Flushing, NY
I would say 80+% of people use actinic supplementation with their MH which will change your calculations on wattage.
- Location
- Marine Park
Good point but I don't think the number is so high anymore. Maybe here on MR but on other forums people seem to be switching bulb color to something that doesn't need supplementation. There's also a very popular trend to lower wattage for a longer period of time.
- Location
- Upper East Side
I love my Ushio 14Ks with no actinic supplementation. I just run moonlights on the alternate light cycle.
OK, today I replaced my 175 w 10K bulbs with 175w 14k bulbs. I also replaced the 39w actinics with 39w Aquablue specials.
The tank color was much more yellow and warmer looking with the 10k + actinic. Now the color is a very cool white blue. I think this combination would look great on a cold water tank. Anything that had a little bit of fluorescence like orange ricordias, trachyphilia, or green nepthea looks much brigher. Everything yellow looks very flat. As with all change, it is going to take me a day or so to get used to the new look
The tank color was much more yellow and warmer looking with the 10k + actinic. Now the color is a very cool white blue. I think this combination would look great on a cold water tank. Anything that had a little bit of fluorescence like orange ricordias, trachyphilia, or green nepthea looks much brigher. Everything yellow looks very flat. As with all change, it is going to take me a day or so to get used to the new look
lights have been on for a little over an hour, and the color is looking nice. The balance between reds and greens is really good. The reds look red - not brown, and the greens are really bright. Even the yellows are looking good. The color is still a little cool, but I think this bulb combination definitely gives more balanced color to my tank.
- Location
- NY
Hey L, would love to see a side by side comparison pic. However, as long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters.
R
R
hey leslie
i am a rookie by all means just my 2 cents i went from 14k mh to a 20k on my tank and the difference in color was insane plus i also use led's for atinic suppliment. i was told that growth would be impacted (less growth) by going to 20k well that was wrong i have an orange shelf coral that has about 1/4" of growth in 3 months since the change. the only thing with mh's i see is the heat have to get a chiller for the summertime lol....
good luck with the change and sometimes change is good opens up new possibilites
rick
i am a rookie by all means just my 2 cents i went from 14k mh to a 20k on my tank and the difference in color was insane plus i also use led's for atinic suppliment. i was told that growth would be impacted (less growth) by going to 20k well that was wrong i have an orange shelf coral that has about 1/4" of growth in 3 months since the change. the only thing with mh's i see is the heat have to get a chiller for the summertime lol....
good luck with the change and sometimes change is good opens up new possibilites
rick
OK, my pics are always horrible so not sure how much you can tell about the lighting.
The first pic was taken by JH with a point and shoot. These are the 20k bulbs with actinic. The second pic was taken by me. I did try to adjust the white balance, but I couldn't really figure it out :-( These are 14k bulbs with aquablue special in place of the actinics.
The first pic was taken by JH with a point and shoot. These are the 20k bulbs with actinic. The second pic was taken by me. I did try to adjust the white balance, but I couldn't really figure it out :-( These are 14k bulbs with aquablue special in place of the actinics.
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- Location
- NY
I know just what you mean. My picture taking abilities are terribly, horribly, awful. So comparing anything I take (or you) to what Jon takes, is just not fair. Apples to oranges.
But like Kath says, I like 'your' picture. :biggrin:
R
But like Kath says, I like 'your' picture. :biggrin:
R
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