Metal Halides Vs T5's

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

Wanted some feedback which lighting setup is better for a reef tank. The new trend is to put only T5's or only MH. I know the majority of the setups out there do a mix of both.

Want to get everbody's experience on the subject, in regard to the different setups and there performance. Interested in the growth, color and variety of corals that can be kept as well as the differences between the options in regards to intial cost, power consumption, heat, spectrum diversity, bulb replacement ect...

Let see if we can get a good discusion going and solve this lighting thing once and for all.( Yeah right :thumbs: )

 

[raisingtwo2006]

I only have PCs but we are upgrading to MHs as soon as I can get to ATL to pick them up But- We went with MH because I wanted something I could pretty much stick anything under, and Dennis wanted something that would give us the "shimmer" in the tank.

As far as growth, cost, consumption.. I don't have any idea yet

 

[glxtrix]

FWIW, you can put anything under either MH or T5's. The key to T5's is individual reflectors....the good kind too. You can overdrive them and it makes them wicked bright! But you will have more heat. I've seen some tanks with T5's that make me want to switch from my MH's. I've seem then ran in tanks 30" deep too. I strongly believe you will get close to the same result IF you put the same effort into the setups. Reflectors, reflectors, reflectors! I can't stress how important they are in this hobby. There are many kinds of MH reflectors, lots that are good, lots that are crap and some are really good. It also comes down to ballasts....I could go on and on here about lighting. Just do some research, check out sanjays tests and pick what would be good for you. But as of now, I'm a MH and VHO guy

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

I agree losing the shimmer from MH is a concern with T5's. I have read that if you have a powerhead or return making alot of turbulence on the surface you can get a shimmer from T5's as well ( Helps with disolved oxygen levels too).

I aggree about the reflectors, very important. Only thing more important on a reef tank is a quality protein skimmer in my opinion..

About to recommend a 8 bulb tek fixture to one of my tank install customers, this is going on a 150 gallon 48"x24"x29". Will the T5's be enough? They are individually reflected. I am concerned about the depth. He want to do SPS and Clams

 

[glxtrix]

All depends really. I know over driven will definitely work. As far as regular, I'll let someone with a lil more T5 exp. chime in on that. Where's Big D? I know his tank had all T5's and he had incredible color and growth!

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

I was planning on using the standard built in ballast that comes with the unit. Though replacing the ballast and overdriving the bulbs could always be an option if intensity or depth pentration became an issue. I would love to have Big D chime in since he currently has a T5 setup, has he had any issues with bleaching?

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

Sunlight Supply said the the T5 tek fixture could handle up to 36" depth before needing to upgrade to MH. This sound very deep to me.

Anybody have a MH only tank? Another tank were putting in, we are thinking about going with three 250 watt 14k Phoenix bulbs using the Brand New Lumenmax Elite reflectors from Sunlight Supply. These new reflectors look awesome, they are a little bit bigger than the lumenmax 3 coming in at 17.5"x14.5"x5.5".

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

Bump

 

[glxtrix]

I run 3x175W Iwasaki's in the LumenBright reflectors with 2x110W VHO's. I love it and my corals are getting BLASTED with PAR. All this is over my 140 (55x24x24)

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

What kelvin temp on you Iwasaki MH's? What brand are your VHO's. Do you have any pictures of your tank so we can see what this light combo looks like?

 

[william1]

Okay I run a tek light 8 T5's and keep anything I want under them. I set up a bulb configeration and went with it. I have a ton os sps and a gigas clam (that was under pc's in the sand 24" deep.) I love the light on my 90 gallon a little heat so I added a walmart fan by the refugium. Problem solved with the pure atinics I get a bit of a shimmer on my corals not like MH but I am super happy with the results ( I do have a 400 watt MH in the other room just begging to get on a tank....)

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[glxtrix]

William, the tank is looking great!

 

[william1]

Thanks man I love this light never did anything to just set it up. Placed a bunch of new sps in the tank with some epoxy puddy a month ago and they all have encrusted the puddy( and I love lots of puddy) with a midday in the mix I seem to be having pretty good growth I tried to base mine off camerons old set up just a little smaller and in a straight row. He had very good growth but had a 70 MH as well.

 

[william1]

here is a newer but a little out of focus not my camera. new background as well first coat..

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[glxtrix]

Sweeet!

 

[Creation Reef & Aquatics]

Tank looks great, thanks for posting pics. Love the midas blenny. It is very helpful to see a tank lit by the tek fixture. After seeing your tank I am convinced this is the right setup for my customer that is concerned about heat and power consumption. What bulbs do you have, the color looks awesome..