6 Bulb T5 or 4 Bulb T5/LED Hybrid

hey_frag

New member
Im after opinions, I'm running Metal Halides but I have young kiddies and I don't like the thought of them looking into such a bright light, plus the heat they put into the water.
So I'm wanting my primary light source to be T5. I have a 4 bulb 54w ho retro/bay to use. This is going over a 60" X 26"w X 22"h. I'll be replacing the wide spread reflectors with narrow spread ones. Now I can rearrange things a bit and:
A) add 2x39w to the back (which I already have, and with this setup won't be lighting my 12" X 6" corner overflow.) =294w of T5 goodness.
or
B) add 120w of LEDs in 2 or 3 strips between 4x54w bulbs and only replace 4 bulbs in stead of 6. =336w.

I've tried to keep SPS halfway up but some have had to be placed slightly lower than the centre line.
 
In that tank you're going to want that 6-8 bulb T5 described above. LED supplement will depend on your personal taste.
 
It's a bit of a stretch to fit the 6 bulbs and 44 LEDs in the luminaire, might be doable though. I already have the LEDs as well as the 2x39 bulbs/ballast. The only thing missing are the reflectors so far.
So you don't think the wider spaced 4x54w with LEDs between will match up to closely spaced 4x54 + 2x39? The only thing I'd miss would just be the gimmick of sunrise/sunset with the storm controller. If I got quite narrow reflectors I could do all. What would be the best arrangement?
 
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