Metal Halide or T-5

[dtd87]

Seriously I can't decide.. sway me either way and tell me your bulbs and ballasts for metal halides.

 

[edwing206]

I personally love the look of metal halides, especially the shimmer effect they have on the whole tank. I've seen all-T5 setups and they just don't have that POP that MH gives. It also really depends on what you want to keep (SPS vs softies/zoanthids) and the dimentions of your tank. For deeper tanks you generally want to use MH since the light is more direct thus penetrating deeper tanks.

 

[dtd87]

I love the shimmer and that they're cheaper than the t-5 fixture I want haha metal halide wise. Seeing saltwater fishes tanks today just made me want a metal halide.. Was so nice looking. And I think I can get a 150w halide w/ 14k phoniex bulb reflector and ballast for like 350$ new vs 700+ for the t-5 setup

 

[psb]

Tagging along.

 

[eww]

We have T5's on a 30" deep tank and it seems we can do just about anything as deep as we want. I am working on getting a PAR meter to measure official results but all SPS are doing great mid to high in the tank and zoos and acans are growing on the sand bed. You are correct that the shimmer effect just isn't there but we get that at night with the Icecap moon lights. We did the retro fit kits with 4 36" bulbs inside the hood with individual reflectors and Icecap ballast. We only have 5 1/2" inches from the top water surface to the top of the inside of the hood and they fit perfectly. It think we have between $200 and $300 into the whole setup but that is shopping around and buying mostly used equipment (except reflectors and some bulbs) as well. I like the cost of the bulbs and what the life is supposed to be on them but that remains to be seen for us as it is all pretty new still. IMHO we like the T5s because they are compact, less heat, very bright, less operating wattage and lower bulb replacement cost. I know there are a lot of MH people out there too that I'm sure can make a good argument for that direction too. Just my .02

 

[jrgilles]

I bought a used fixture, 4' long, 2X250W, 4X65 watt CF, 16 blue moonlight LED's for $280.

I redid a few of the connections that had corroded and replaced the boots for the lamps, and its great and was a great price.

I like the halides. If you end up with 150W Double ended MH bulbs, I have 2 of them that I misordered and couldn't return. Yours for $20 each if you want them. Ebay quality (won't last as long before the spectrum changes), but they're cheap. 10k lamps.

Anyway, keep an eye on the used equip forums, and you might be able to get a good deal on a fixture.

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

I'm a T5 fan i prefer the much more even coverage of the T5s over the shimmer. I also enjoy the lower power usage and lower heat they generate.

 

[khaosinc]

I like the t-5s as well. Little more costly in the end when you figure bulbs and the like maybe, but less energy on the electric bill and less heat. I couldn't get the coverage I have now with 3 1000K bulbs, and I'd be running a chiller most of the year.

 

[dtd87]

Woohoo some responses. Anyone else care to contribute.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

T5's are good the only problem and it is not a big one is getting the color spectrum you want lol...

I like M/H shimmer easy color spectrum pick 20k on down to 6500 cheaper up front then t5s as stated above but both will hold and grow corals great.

 

[Workaholic]

For me its really going to depend on what you prefer. Personally I really like halides. I like the way they look. I started on halides and I'm still running halides on tanks now 10 years later. As a contradiction to that though if you go on Reef Central and look at the last 3 TOTM you will find that all 3 are nearly strictly sps tanks and all 3 are running t5's. Personally I think the color looks fantastic on them but that is from a photo and obviously can be edited and you are never going to catch the real color of a tank unless you have a pretty high end camera. T5's are nice because you can really fine tune the color you want, being able to get bulbs all the way down to a 6500k all the way up to a fiji purple at somewhere around 24k IIRC. There are so many bulb options out there for t5's it really makes your options almost limitless. If the electricity were expensive here (it only costs about $5/mo to run a pair of 250w halides) I would probably go t5 as it would cut my lighting electric usage in half but it isn't so I get to get away with halides.

I think the biggest things that should affect your decision are these

Dimensions of your tank (for example t5's would actually be a better light for my 3' tank as it would take much less in order to get total coverage of the tank but i'm stubborn and like halides so i'm going with a pair of 250's)

What type of coral in you intend on keeping (for example some clams can be kept under t5's but you would have to get quite a few bulbs running to keep things like maximas and squamosa's IMHO)

What type of color you want out of your tank (I personally prefer a very nice crisp white/blue color to my tank which is why I love the reeflux 12k 250w SE halide bulb)

Tom

 

[dtd87]

Yeah I love the blue/white from the 14k bulbs and I like the fact I can save initially around 400$. Currently I'm planning on getting.. these
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=LK1221&idCartRow=20443174&isKit=0
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=MB2664&idCartRow=20443175&isKit=0&child=MB2664
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=SL1531&idCartRow=20443176&isKit=0&child=SL1531

I saw this combo @ BR and liked the look.. so I'm leaning towards it, I have a few hours to decide if I want it or not so lets see if anyone posts different

 

[Workaholic]

well, what are the dimensions of your tank? are you only going to need to run 1 halide? it seems kind of strange that the halide setup is so much cheaper than the t5 setup.

Tom

 

[dtd87]

I only have a 36 bowfront, It's 30inches wide. I was originally considering the ati t-5 6x24w but I just keep leaning to the metal halide. I like the look more now.

 

[Workaholic]

well in that case then yes a pair of 150w halides would probably be your best bet, mainly because you have the center brace on that tank and running t5's would create a shaded area right in the middle of the tank. I can see why the cost was so much more for the t5's because you chose and ATI fixture and compared it to somewhat of a retrofit for the halide choice. ATI's fixtures are nice but a current outer orbit is pretty nice as well for quite a big difference in cost.

Tom

 

[dtd87]

I want to remove the brace and switch it for like an acrylic brace. Need to find a DIY

 

[dtd87]

So the KIT I bought was supposed to be delivered today. I checked my tracking to see it was Delivered @ 10:58 am. I was in the living room waiting since 9:30am. Looks like the delivered it to the wrong house. I checked with everyone I live with. Windows where open the upstairs room see's anything coming down the driveway.(We live on a Small 3 house LANE) So I called the store I purchased it from and now they have to do an investigation to make sure It was delivered to my house or a wrong house. But I'm pretty sure with my giddily waiting my new light. I'd notice a giant delivery truck outside and a man plop a package on my front porch. (Which by the way it was raining and our porch isn't covered, so they should have rang the doorbell if they actually did show up here) So It might be another two weeks till I get my light if they prove that It wasn't delivered here. Ugh I'm sad about this

/ending my QQ