If you had a choice with lighting?

E

ErrorS

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Dec 29, 2006
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I have a choice. Just recently bought a canopy for my 55, here are my options.

1. Two 175W Metal Halides. (ok, maybe that's too much? :D)
2. Four T5s ran off ballasts for CFs (same wattage, should be alright).
3. Two T8 Flourescent and four compact flourescent. (What I have now)

Considering everything.. bulb costs, simplicity of the setup, bulb availablity, heat, etc..

The first option is a bit too extreme.. the high pressure bulbs scare me and I hate the high temp per square inch on these things. The smallest drop of water might cause the bulb to shatter and explode. The bulbs are expensive, even online, and next to impossible to find locally. However, I get the best lighting, it's the simplist to set up and uses up the least space.

The second option would provide me with roughly 4WPG of evenly spaced lighting. It would be the lowest heat, second easiest to assemble, least crowded and probably most efficient. T5 bulbs are dirt cheap online but impossible to find locally.
I would be using the ballsts I use for my CFs (I think two WH5s and some dual 55W CF ballast), all electronic but still not the best ballasts money can buy.

The third option is what I've been using.. I worry about temperature problems and the high replacement costs for the bulbs($35 locally each, $20 online). As of now, I would need to replace every single one of the CFs I have. I can, at most, fit 3 T8s in my canopy (blocks that rest on the tank make it too short in most areas), I have an electronic ballst for two. With this option I would be using four seperate ballasts with quite a bit of wiring involved. I never liked the idea of CFs, I feel they get too hot. It's like having two high output T5s almost touching each other in terms of heat per surface space.

If you had a choice which would you pick? maybe a mix?
 
I'll make sure to do the research before I buy T5s for these ballasts, I wont blindly assume wattage is all that matters.

Ended up blowing two magnetic ballasts i used with my T12s to power my T8s, after the second one I looked at the fine print and the T8s required more initial amps for starting even though they were less wattage. So I'll never make that mistake again.

edit: and looking on eBay I just saw a 48x24'' fixture with two 150W MHs and four CFs. Isn't that even a bit much for a reef? I mean, wow.. imagine trying to cool that monster. I know it has nothing to do with the subject.. but I had to say something :D
 
ErrorS said:
edit: and looking on eBay I just saw a 48x24'' fixture with two 150W MHs and four CFs. Isn't that even a bit much for a reef? I mean, wow.. imagine trying to cool that monster. I know it has nothing to do with the subject.. but I had to say something :D
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Considering that a 48" x 24" tank is typically a 120g tank (75 & 90g are ususally 48" x 18"), two 150w MHs + 4 PCs would really only be good for keeping softies and LPS corals in a reef tank. To have SPS corals, you'd want two 400w MHs + the PCs. You might be surprised how easy it is to cool a reef tank (even without spending a fortune on a chiller).

Personally, I'd go with option 2 or 3. That assumes that 2 can be done safely, although there was a thread on ReefCentral in Nov. / Dec. about running 54w T5 HO bulbs on 55w/65w PC ballasts. The poster got the bulbs to work, but who knows if they are producing as much intensity as if they were run on a ballast designed for them or if their lifespan is effected. PC bulbs are relatively expensive for what they are, do not last as long as the T5 HO, and aren't as efficient as the T5 HOs. But, I guess it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish -- a moderate to high light planted tank, perhaps?
 
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If you can DIY you can rig up an ODNO setup with regular T8's to get the most bang for the buck. I use 4 t8 bulbs (well actually I got 1 t6 in there but same difference) overdriven 2X each over my 75G. Seems to grow most things fine, but havent really tried the most demanding of plants. Another option would be rigging up an icecap/t5 combo like this: http://diyreef.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=55_89&products_id=458
The icecap 430 is suppose to drive a pair of T5's to 80-85W (each). So just two bulbs over your 55 would be like 3wpg and the nice icecap reflectors will yield you more light than that, and youd only have to change 2 bulbs (and for example the GS starcoats on that same website are only $12.95/each). Just an idea. If your looking at MH I think they also have 75W metal halides as well, you could do 2 of them along with a pair of regular t8's, there a bit more rare though.
 
fsn77 said:
Considering that a 48" x 24" tank is typically a 120g tank (75 & 90g are ususally 48" x 18"), two 150w MHs + 4 PCs would really only be good for keeping softies and LPS corals in a reef tank. To have SPS corals, you'd want two 400w MHs + the PCs. You might be surprised how easy it is to cool a reef tank (even without spending a fortune on a chiller).

Personally, I'd go with option 2 or 3. That assumes that 2 can be done safely, although there was a thread on ReefCentral in Nov. / Dec. about running 54w T5 HO bulbs on 55w/65w PC ballasts. The poster got the bulbs to work, but who knows if they are producing as much intensity as if they were run on a ballast designed for them or if their lifespan is effected. PC bulbs are relatively expensive for what they are, do not last as long as the T5 HO, and aren't as efficient as the T5 HOs. But, I guess it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish -- a moderate to high light planted tank, perhaps?
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Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking.. had it in my head 75Gs were 24'' wide even though I've owned a couple in my life.

Well, the ballasts I have are rated for T5s, I'm pretty sure they are Workhorse3s. I've found the Workhorse to be pretty good ballasts for the money.

loaches r cool said:
If you can DIY you can rig up an ODNO setup with regular T8's to get the most bang for the buck. I use 4 t8 bulbs (well actually I got 1 t6 in there but same difference) overdriven 2X each over my 75G. Seems to grow most things fine, but havent really tried the most demanding of plants. Another option would be rigging up an icecap/t5 combo like this: http://diyreef.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=55_89&products_id=458
The icecap 430 is suppose to drive a pair of T5's to 80-85W (each). So just two bulbs over your 55 would be like 3wpg and the nice icecap reflectors will yield you more light than that, and youd only have to change 2 bulbs (and for example the GS starcoats on that same website are only $12.95/each). Just an idea. If your looking at MH I think they also have 75W metal halides as well, you could do 2 of them along with a pair of regular t8's, there a bit more rare though.
Click to expand...

I don't want to overdrive by any large amount, I think there is too much energy wasted when you do. I might consider it with a cheap, easy to find bulb like a T8 but never with a T5 ($20EA online, shipped, for half decent ones).

Not to mention, I mount ballasts and bulbs in the canopy, that's a lot of heat for such a small space.

I'm also looking to spend as little money as I can initially, so going with something like the IceCap is out of the question. It's not that hard or expensive to reach required lighting on a 55, I just want it to be eficient and simple. The setup I'm working on now temporarily (the option3, because that's what i have at the moment) is horrible. The wiring, mounting of CFs, it's just a big stupid mess that I don't wnat to have to deal with every time I feed my fish.. its just the balance between convienance and functionality, that's the hardest part about a custom made lighting system.
 
ErrorS said:
I don't want to overdrive by any large amount, I think there is too much energy wasted when you do. I might consider it with a cheap, easy to find bulb like a T8 but never with a T5 ($20EA online, shipped, for half decent ones).

Not to mention, I mount ballasts and bulbs in the canopy, that's a lot of heat for such a small space.

I'm also looking to spend as little money as I can initially, so going with something like the IceCap is out of the question. It's not that hard or expensive to reach required lighting on a 55, I just want it to be eficient and simple. The setup I'm working on now temporarily (the option3, because that's what i have at the moment) is horrible. The wiring, mounting of CFs, it's just a big stupid mess that I don't wnat to have to deal with every time I feed my fish.. its just the balance between convienance and functionality, that's the hardest part about a custom made lighting system.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was just throwing some ideas out there. I'll always push ODNO since its works so well for me. I have 2 ballasts inside my canopy (rated 4bulbs each @ 32W) and 4 bulbs total. No issues with heat but I also included a canopy fan in my design (actually two at $8 each). A 2x od t8 probably doesnt even get as hot as a T5HO but I havent personally checked it, just power per bulb volume. And most bulbs are more effecient od'd, some peaking effeciency at 4X. Heres a good read on ODNO measurments: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/21257-odno-measurements-power-consumption-vs-light.html

If you dont want to spend much your kinda limited, as I am sure you figured. Icecaps arent cheap but if you go the MH route they will pay the difference in effeciency, perhaps even pay for themselves over time. If you dont want to mess with custom stuff, and want something thats nice looking and super effecient I'd look into a T5HO Tek Light, probably the 4 bulb version.
 
Well, I was sick of the CFs so I gave the ODNO some more thought. Ended up buying two more T8s and I'm now running them off of the ballasts I used for two of my CFs (Workhorse 33s), giving each of the T8s a good 65W.

So what I have right now, until I can get some more ballasts..

Two CFs (110W)
Two NO T8s (64W)
Two ODNO T8s (128W)

It's not bad.. Now I need a second "dual bulb" electronic ballast so I can run a total of four ODNO bulbs.

Thanks because I wouldn't have even considered it had you not said something. I was able to do this with $10 worth of material (new bulbs). Same light output as the quad CFs (roughly.. only because I was using 50/50s before) with much more stable mounting, cheaper replacement cost, etc..

This is exactly what I was looking for.

Was only about 3 hours worth of work (mounting the reflector, rewiring, drilling, cutting, etc into my canopy)

and those workhorse33s are nice. Instant start, no flicker whatsoever and I only needed a single wire to each lampholder.. It's also nice because I can simply swap out the T8s with HO T5s if I ever feel the need, giving me a significiant boost in light output.

Do you all think this is enough lighting for a planted tank? my reflectors aren't the highest quality.. it's just the one from my old fixture pounded out and mounted on the lid of the canopy but better than a white painted reflector.
 
Results will vary from ballast manufacturer and different bulbs, but here is some data collected on T8's


1X = 40W 1.00%
2X = 54W 1.19%
3X = 63W 1.25%
4X = 69W 1.24%

First number is how much its overdriven, second is actuall watts consumed (inlcuding ballast) and last number is the bulb effeciency converting watts to light. You can see in this example 3X and 4X overdriven bulbs are significantly more effecient than standard bulbs, the downside being thier lifetime will more than likely be shortened. This data is based on Advance REL-4P32-SC ballast and Philips Daylight Delux T8's 6500K (like $3 ea at lowes or HD).

On my own setup I used sylvania quicktronic ballasts design to drive 4 T8 bulbs each, and got them on ebay for a little under $15 each including shipping. The key is getting ballasts cheap, and if I am not mistaken I think HD actually sells a dual shoplight with electronic ballast for like $10? Not really sure but that keeps poping up on various forums. Some have said its cheaper to buy that just for the ballast than a new ballast alone.
 
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