90 gal lighting

[leesanhua]

planning to get mh light.
i have a 90gallon tank which is 24" deep. should i use 150w? or 250w?
planning to keep some sps and most of them LPS.

 

[PiNaPLeX]

go for 250w it will penetrate deeper into the tank. You will have more options on where to place your SPS.

 

[leesanhua]

all right. will do that. thks.
2x250w 10k (mh) and 2x110w vho
or
2x250w 10k (mh) and 2x54w vho

which one better?

 

[PiNaPLeX]

do you mean 2x54w T5?

if thats the case, go with the T5's

 

[dtaranath]

54w actinics are T5, not VHO. I think 2x110W URI VHO actinics would be your best bet. they would provide the best balance for your MH.

 

[PiNaPLeX]

the new UV lighting (formerly URI) super actinic T5s are supposed to be the T5 equivalent to the VHO super actinics.

 

[dtaranath]

in that case, I would go with the T5's. The less wattage the better.

 

[Giovanni]

dtaranath,

Why do you say " the less wattage the better"?

 

[dtaranath]

ha. i guess that came out wrong. i actually meant that in terms of VHO and T5 actinics. Since the T5's emit such bright light with less wattage, a 54W T5 would probably be very comparable to a 110W VHO. I can't say that with absolute certainty, but if it's true, saving an extra 112 watts by using the T5s would certainly cut down on my current electrical costs. My current total wattage for lights is 720watts, which, in addition to everything else, amounts to a nice monthly electric bill.

 

[Giovanni]

I see, you mean the less wattage consumed the better.

 

[leesanhua]

do you mean 2x54w T5?

yes. t5

 

[leesanhua]

so the 54w t5 has the same functions or effect as the 110w VHO t5??

 

[Kernel Panic]

Not sure about the par comparison between the 54w t5 and 110w vho, but as long as you are using the single lamp reflectors T5's give you the most light per watt.

 

[PiNaPLeX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7397674#post7397674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by leesanhua
so the 54w t5 has the same functions or effect as the 110w VHO t5??

the UV lighting Super Actinic T5s have the same effect as the URI Super Actinic VHOs.

UV lighting is actually formerly know as URI, they just changed names.

With the icecap or tek reflector, the T5 light will give you more light in the tank than the VHO light with less wattage.