T5 Questions

[redfishbluefish]

Why are we yin and yang ???

One of you are pro ballast-overdrive and the other is anti ballast-overdrive. I actually think this is a good argument over which is best. Although I’ve got a hunch that it’s not as simple as that. I think the bottom line is that you sacrifice ballast cost / energy consumption / bulb life for a little more light juice…and who knows if that is a significant improvement for your tank??

Does a $30 electronic ballast (no overdrive), do the same for your tank as a 3X - 5X expensive overdrive ballast…that is the question?

 

[mott768]

One of you are pro ballast-overdrive and the other is anti ballast-overdrive. I actually think this is a good argument over which is best. Although I’ve got a hunch that it’s not as simple as that. I think the bottom line is that you sacrifice ballast cost / energy consumption / bulb life for a little more light juice…and who knows if that is a significant improvement for your tank??

Does a $30 electronic ballast (no overdrive), do the same for your tank as a 3X - 5X expensive overdrive ballast…that is the question?

Your absolutely right it's not as simple as that, it's a combination of multiples, I'm not saying you shouldn't or can't overdrive, I actually still know people who overdrive MH's but it's not something I would personally do. All I'm saying is just before you do overdrive make sure that it's what you really want to do. There are so many options with lighting and being one of the biggest expenses in the hobby it's best to have some knowledge of the differences and expenses that go along with them. I also want to make clear that I don't think ice cap products are bad they make very good products, it's not a matter a one brand being better than the other.

 

[mott768]

Let me explain what I meant by defeating the purpose by overdriving T5's. You really don't gain much over MH's, if you add up the power consumption and added heat, what do you gain? You will be about the same if you were using 3 250 watt MH bulbs rather than using say 12 or more overdriven T5's. Lets say a tank is 24" deep and use a good quality MH bulb like a 175w Iwasaki that has just as good par and even better than some 250 watt bulbs you can actually save money and generate less heat over using the overdriven T5's.

 

[Edwardw771]

My feeling is you get what you pay for. As the old saying goes. In honer of this thread I'm going buy a 4 bulb Retro from Sunlight suppy with the same ATI bulbs\Giemann bulbs I'm running now from the Prem Aqutics GB. And put them right next to IceCaps over my tank. Then I'm going to get a par meter and find out. If you can go cheap with lighting and have the same results and looks.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Ed, don't go out buying one if it's just for an experiment. You're more than welcome to stop by and use the par meter for comparison on my tank.

Just an offer.

 

[mott768]

Post edited to remove false allegations, humor value not withstanding....

here's a test you can do if you want to prove me wrong about overdrivin T5's, take your current overdriven T5 setup and compare it to 3 250w MH with good reflectors and a Ice cap electronic ballast, then compare it to 175w MH with a ice cap ballast and then you will see what I'm talking about. Don't forget to measure the heat, par and electric use. Make sure it is a controlled test everything has to be the same including (tank & canopy)

almost forgot very important don't forget to add in price of bulbs

lets say you have 12 T5 bulbs with a average cost of $25 ea. and you change them once a year that's $300 a yr now take 3 250 watt MH bulb at a price of say $70ea and change them once a yr that's $210 see what I'm getting at....