Metal Halide vs. T5 on big tanks

[MOT]

I have been hearing alot about t5's being a great deal lately. I am trying to figure out what to light my new 156 with. It is 5' long, 2' wide, and 2' tall. There are no fixtures to match these dimensions so I am going to have to go with a retrofit setup. Ideally having both would be the jam. However when comparing the two. I have found that if I lit the tank with only 80watt t5's like lanman has on his 225. It would cost me maybe even more than if I just put two 20k 400 watt metal halides. No doubt the halides run hotter but I don't think that is really gonna be a problem. The power usage seems pretty negligible. I am leaning towards initially just putting metal halides on the tank because it is cheaper. looks better (shimmer effect) and I only have to replace two bulbs. The t5 fixtures I am referring to are here http://www.sunlightsupply.com/product.cfm?...ys%3D%26pgi%3D1

it's $225 per two bulb fixture not including the actual bulbs. I would probably use 4 of these. That seems way more expensive than say these bulbs (radium 20k 400 watt $80)

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...mp;Category=844

these reflectors (lumenbright 3's $110)

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;ProdID=1515

and these ballasts (coralvue 400w $140)

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;ProdID=1515

 

It seems it would cost me 660 for the metal halide setup including awesome bulbs. And 900 for the t5 setup not including bulbs. Besides the metal halides would offer me 800watts of deep penetrating bulbs. Where as the t5 setup would give me only 640 of not so deep penetrating bulbs. I'm not sure how much 8 good quality t5 bulbs would cost but I'm guessing it's gonna be less than the 160 I pay for the MH's. Does Anyone have any insight as to which provides better growth? I am leaning towards the metal halides. Advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom

[CHUBAKAH]

I was using a combo of both, but recently converted over to all MH's, and am using radium bulbs. I really love the new look. The growing remains to be seen.

[shawns]

i have never seen a thread debating the use of t5's and mh.

 

i dont know what kind of figuring you're doing, but if you'd like to go the t5 route you can fit 10-11 bubls in a 2' space. aquactinics makes a 2'' reflector! not only will you have more light from the added bulbs but the thinner reflectors will get the light to the bottom of your 2' tank! t-5s are about $22/bulb. 220 for 10. $160 for mh, but the t5s last 18months vs. 12 of the halides. t5 wattage would be 800 for 10 bulbs--the same as the dual 400w mh.

 

are you set on EITHER t-5s OR metal halides?? why dont you use both? have you ever considered 250w mh, and maybe 6 t-5s? i bet you could do it and that would SLAM your tank w/ light!

[Grav]

You can get 5 ft mh fixtures if you want. Orbit makes one.

[Larry Grenier]

Also...

 

Not to state the obvious but... The old #watts rule isn't necessarily the most important. For example, a VHO of a particular wattage has been shown to put out less PAR than a same length but lesser wattage T5. Ant when you put the reflector on the skinny T5 the PAR is even better. Sorry I don't have the numbers but something to think about. I believe that part of the popularity of T5s is the watt/PAR relationship or put another way, more PAR per watt. I know Bob(lanman) has good color and growth even at the bottom of his tank with just T5s. Let us know where your research brings you.

[guppychao]

growth on the 20k radiums are going to be slow, i believe 6500k bulbs give you the fastest growth, however everything turns brown

 

 

I was using a combo of both, but recently converted over to all MH's, and am using radium bulbs. I really love the new look. The growing remains to be seen.

[MOT]

I found this fixture which has both MH and t5 for a pretty good price.

http://www.aquacave.com/60-current-usa-out...ights-1281.html

Now my only question would be about HQI vs Mogul. I know there is a better selection of bulbs for HQI but what about the reflectors? Do HQI fixtures distribute the light as well as a mogul with a nice reflector. It seems to me that they might because the bulb is so much smaller that the reflectors don't need to be as big. Any thoughts?

[jamesbuf]

I found this fixture which has both MH and t5 for a pretty good price.

http://www.aquacave.com/60-current-usa-out...ights-1281.html

Now my only question would be about HQI vs Mogul. I know there is a better selection of bulbs for HQI but what about the reflectors? Do HQI fixtures distribute the light as well as a mogul with a nice reflector. It seems to me that they might because the bulb is so much smaller that the reflectors don't need to be as big. Any thoughts?

 

The only thing about those fixtures is that you don't get anywhere near the spread from those MH reflectors as you do from the higher end reflectors. If you want to see good growth, you'll have to aquascape accordingly and be mindful with coral placement. Honestly, I've seen a few nice setups now that had just MHs, with no supplementation lighting, and their tanks looked awesome. I'm going to try this with two 250watt MHs over my 92gal corner. I have two separate ballasts so I will turn one on and then the other a half an hour later, to try to simulate the sun coming up. I use to do this with actinic VHOs, but I'm sure it'll be fine to do it this way too. I'll do the same to get the dawn effect.

[Connor]

I think im going to go with a 5 bulb aquatinics T5 lighting fixture for my 92 gallon sps/lps tank.

 

-Connor