# HQI or T5 or ?



## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

I'm in the process of collecting pieces for my future setup. 

Tank dimensions are 48L x 22W x 20H 

I'm leaning toward Coralife Aqualight Pro 48" HQI setup - $594 which comes with: 

- 2x150 watt 10,000K MH lamps
- 2x96 watt True Actinic 03 Blue PC lamps (replaced with either 6700 or 10000PC)
- 3x1 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED lamps


I also got some feedback from people who did some research and they also feel strong about T5. 

Any last recommendations / tips ?


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

A few things that come to mind in no particular order
1) 96 watt bulbs are going to leave you atleast 6" short on both sides
2) I recall a thread a long while ago where they had adverse affects with blue moonlights on plants (I think it was pelia).
3) Ge Starcoat bulbs are cheap! HQI's are expensive.
4) Teklights...duel lighting control so you can have sunrise/sunset effects
5) dual lighting PLUS the ability to raise and lower the Teklights ggives you ultimate in control in lighting intensity.
6) Both fixtures (tek and Aqualight) are slick.
7) T5HO reflectors in the teklights are extremely efficient.
8) You can only get the shimmer affect with HQI. The T5's will have a very different effect, but you can get an extremely even coverage with them.
9) I believe that watt per watt, the T5HO's give off more heat. 
10) I doubt the 96 watt reflectors are very efficient in comparison to the AH ones you are used to. This will likely be like the ADA Grand Solar system where PC is just for visual appeal. 

Ideally, a 2x150 with 2x54T5 would be perfect.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Excellent points by Gomer.

Here's a link that may be of interest:

http://www.paramount-lighting.com/t5vshid_comparison.pdf

If you are considering the Tek Light, this is the cheapest I've found (link below), and is where I bought mine. There are 2 models, one for hydroponics (one power cord, 2 switches), and the one for the aquarium (w/ 2 power cords & 2 switches). Bulbs, GE Starcoat, are included, + free shipping.

http://www.specialty-lights.com/960100.html


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

I found happy medium. 

2 x Coralife Aqualight Pro 24" HQI which equals to 48" setup money wise. I have huge advantage by having 4 x 65W bulbs which will evenly cover 48". I also have bigger selection in 65W bulbs which are also less expansive to replace (* I already have some). 

So there you go  

Smoking 2 x 150HQI plus 4 x 65PC over custom made 90G (48x22x20) tank. Wish me luck


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Jay Luto said:


> I also have bigger selection in 65W bulbs which are also less expansive to replace (* I already have some).


The 65w bulbs that you have now, are they the square pin ones?

Unlike regular Aqualights that come with 65w straight pin bulbs, the Aqualight Pro comes with square pin bulbs. http://www.esuweb.com/cardfile.asp?ItemNumber=53502&IDProductRelationship=313


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## msenske (Feb 4, 2005)

I would highly recommend the ADA HQI bulbs


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

msenske said:


> I would highly recommend the ADA HQI bulbs


Why would you recommend them? Any reason besides color temp?

jB


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Jason Baliban said:


> Why would you recommend them? Any reason besides color temp?
> 
> jB


That is probably it and the quality of course; are you aware of any other manufacturer that makes a 8800K MH bulb?

Oops, I just noticed it was Mike Senske!


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

msenske said:


> I would highly recommend the ADA HQI bulbs


Thanks for the tip Mike. I will speaking to Jeff again within next couple of weeks about another bigger order. Maybe then


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

Got the lights delivered today. Changed actinic bulbs and replaced them with 10,000K Coralife + ColorMax/6700 bulbs. 

SWEET !!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Don't go blind.
Hope you like pruning

I'd only run the 2x 65w for 10 hours, 4x 65 for 6 hours and all for 3-4 hours.

I like the T5's also, hopefully in a year or so, we will see more of them in the HQI mix combo's.

I've found some sources for 25-30$ for 10 HQI bulbs with color temps of 5500 and 6500K. You have to buy 10 at a time but that is generally worth it.

I'd opt for that and then get the Hellolights 8800K PC lights, they run 11$ ea with the 2 for 1 sale, square pin connectors.

Nice color, that the 6500K HQI will give a very nice color and cheap operating cost.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

plantbrain said:


> Don't go blind.
> Hope you like pruning


It is powerful but I can do it with stems or anubias / fern / crypt type tank. No problem there.



> I'd only run the 2x 65w for 10 hours, 4x 65 for 6 hours and all for 3-4 hours.


Something like that. Definitely set schedule and various times for PC and HQI.



> I've found some sources for 25-30$ for 10 HQI bulbs with color temps of 5500 and 6500K. You have to buy 10 at a time but that is generally worth it


Share the link.



> I'd opt for that and then get the Hellolights 8800K PC lights, they run 11$ ea with the 2 for 1 sale, square pin connectors.


Yep. I was going to get few for the future use.

I have seen 10K HQI + 10K PC bulbs in action. Amazing stuff ! I plan to use more colorful plants so that is why I'm using ColorMax which are full specture / 6700K bulbs. Killer combo IMO


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Hellolights is the link for the PC's you cannot beat the color with a 5000K light. 

Also, the 10K PC bulbs look crappy compared the 8800K from HL's over time.

The HQI bulb link is around here somewhere, it might take me awhile to locate it, it took some digging to find it and I got a batch of bulbs already from them. So it'll be 5 years or more before I need more.

Plan on changing them (HQI's) at least 18 months.
The PC lights last longer, pretty much till they fry.
Decay seems good on the 8800K from HL's though.
Much better than the 10K bulbs.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

Tom,



plantbrain said:


> Hellolights is the link for the PC's you cannot beat the color with a 5000K light.


Never cared for 5000K bulbs. I went trough most of the bulbs on the market and used variety of K levels. Every time I upped it higher, the more I liked it. Water with 5000K bulbs looks like diluted urine to me. But it is all personal preference.



> Also, the 10K PC bulbs look crappy compared the 8800K from HL's over time.


Why are we comparing 10K PC vs 8800 HL ??? Different light ....



> The HQI bulb link is around here somewhere, it might take me awhile to locate it, it took some digging to find it and I got a batch of bulbs already from them. So it'll be 5 years or more before I need more.


If you can find it, please post it. I'm sure a lot of us will appreciate it ! 5 years sounds like a nice stash 



> Plan on changing them (HQI's) at least 18 months. The PC lights last longer, pretty much till they fry. Decay seems good on the 8800K from HL's though. Much better than the 10K bulbs.


No biggie Tom. Nobody said that aquatic hobby is cheap. I can afford it


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