Lighting a big tank

MY PC bulbs are an average of 4-5 years old right now.
Anyone that has "young" bulbs in the 1-3 year range, I'd be happy to take them off your hands and pay for shipping:)

T-5 lights seem as bit too expensive yet from the prices I've seen or maybe relatively close to that of PC's. I know a number of folks that are using them but they seem over priced still in this country. A number of folks over seas have been getting better prices and availability(vs PC lighting) so it's become popular there.

MH's vs PC are an apples and oranges issue. I can set up a MH tank pretty easily and cheaply, but the bulbs are large and yes you can get electronic ballast if you don't like the hum and improve the efficiency etc, I like the Double ended bulbs with an electronic ballast, but go check out how much all that cost:)
That's likely what I'll have on most of my tanks later, when I'm done with school.

RTR, I brush with an algae scrub pad.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Originally posted by RTR

Also IMHO & IME HO & VHO is dying technology,
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How exactly is that dying technology? What is it being replaced with? :confused:

If anything CFs are on the way out.

And yes, reflecting the bulbs light into the tank is a function of the reflector, and also the bulb, the two parts of the CF bulbs are too close together to have the light reflected downwards.
 
I think we will see the T-5 come into their own but they are expensive still yet, but I'd expect to see the cost drop in the near future.
I'd like to see the Electronic ballast cost for MH's drop and more double ended bulbs made cheaper also.

They have small high tech looking MH European style German made 150w pendents for 150$ that are smaller and use the 150w double end bulb which look quite nice.
See www.aquaticeco.com
These look much better than those big globes by Hamilton and Coralife.
They have a great deal of products from large commericial applications but also have a lot of smaller goodies.

For now, the PC are a good value for their usefulness.
I do not think we'll will see anything replace anything for awhile yet.

VHO's, HO etc will be used for a few more years and folks can use the regular NO bulbs on those and over drive things if they want.

But overall for now, the PC still seem to beat out the T-5's.
For a 4 bulb set up over 24" the bulb cost run 24w at 24$ ea.
So that's 96$ for 96 watts for a bulb!
The 36: bulbs run 27$ and are 39 w so it's still close to 2x as much.
Compared to a 40$ 96 PC bulb.
The Fixture runs 300$ for 4 x 24 w. The same fixture for a pair of 96 w runs 100-130$ or completely built with lamps for 240$ vs 400$ for the T-5.

I do like the straight bulb shape and evenness of the lighting spread and also the potential for plant folks to use less light that's well distributed, but, they need to make these lights ___cheaper__ before I pay for less watts that are not much better than these.

Over all, I much prefer the HQI small double ends lights and small low profile fixtures.

With electronic ballast, these are hard to beat on looks, light and efficiency but they cost more.

You might be able to hunt around and find less, but the general market suggest the T-5 are still too pricy still.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
T5's have only been in the US aquarium market for around a year now. There is only a handful of bulb makers.(3 I believe) When more companies start making the bulbs the prices will drop, probably lower than CFs, since they are cheaper to manufacturer.

As for MH, the HQI setups are really starting to catch on, and there are 3 or 4 companies making Electronic ballasts, prices should drop pretty nicely on both HQIs and E-ballasts this year and next.
 
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What brand PC, CF, (tomatoe, tomato) lamps are you using that lasts 4 or 5 years? The PC bulbs I got from AH supply became seriously dimmer after a year and a half. After 11 months my coralife PC bulbs became noticeably dimmer, and my JBJ PC bulbs became 50% less bright with the ends of the bulb turning black after 7 or 8 months.

I asked JBJ if this was normal, and they told me that 8 or 10 years ago when PC bulbs first came out manufacturers made big claims about the bulbs lasting for years and years, but he said time has shown this was all hype and PC bulbs last just as long as any other flourescent, peaking at six months. He told me companies are making the same claims about T5s now as they did about PCs, but the same thing will happen.

I can see my tanks getting darker, and when I changed the lights I was shocked at how brighter it was with fresh bulbs.
 
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I like my PC bulbs and would reccommend others to at least look into them. They are brighter watt for watt than regular 'aquarium' flourescent tubes - and I think that confuses some about the 'watts per gallon' issue. I also agree that PC bulbs will be the main type in use by aquarists in the future. While other vague named and hard to find bulbs will be found at "swap meets" and antique stores... :D ----joking, but still, you never know... !

Bring on the PC's and all thier different shapes, K's and outputs!
 
Originally posted by Robert H
He told me companies are making the same claims about T5s now as they did about PCs, but the same thing will happen.
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Except that T5s have been out and avaliable in Europre for some time now, and they have done CF comparisons and the T5 bulbs have held their initial light output far longer than CFs. Overall bulb life should be a bit better, but very few people run their bulbs until they burn out.
 
The 55 watt power compact bulb I am planning on buying has an average life of "12,000 hours". This works out to be about 3.25 years at 10 hours per day.

I have heard all sorts of different info on when aquarium bulbs should be changed. I still don't know what to believe.
 
The rated life of a bulb is until it burns out completely, but long before it burns out, it looses intensity and becomes weaker and weaker. That is why everywhere you read it says to replace standard flourescents every six months. Thats because on average, after 6 months these bulbs have reached their peak and begin to get dimmer and dimmer.

I can tell you my experience with power compacts from three different manufactuers, ( I have over 20 tanks) is they all become very weak within a year.

That is why I asked what brand Tom is using that lasts four years. Take his four year old bulbs and look straight at them and you will barely have to squint. Stare at brand new bulbs and it will be like looking into the sun.

Slip... PCs are a lot cheaper than any you mentioned...

VHOS, when I had a VHO system a few years ago, 48" bulbs were around $35 a peice. An Ice cap 440 ballast as I remember was over $200. Then you need end caps, wiring harness...

HO lamps only come in 8 feet at stores like Home Depot, Lowes, whatever. If they make them any smaller than 8 feet, you can only get them at very specialty lighting stores, and they are expensive. The bulbs are almost as much as VHOs. I searched and searched for smaller HO tubes, like 4ft to use in my store. I could not find any anywhere.

Metal Halides.... run anywhere from $70 to well over $100 just for the bulb. Then you need to buy the ballast, and the fixture. Most complete units I have seen are over $400. And for a big tank you would want two or three of them. Look at the prices for the combo units that have both MH and PCs, they are over $800!!!

T5 fixtures are ridiculously expensive in the USA, and I have not seen anything to justify the price
 
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Thank's to everyone for turning this into a very interesting as well as informative thread. I, for one am gleaning a ton of info from it.
ROY
 
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