Halides or T5 for me....

[Alex T.]

For those of you that have made the switch from halide to t5, are you happy with the results?

I'm considering changing my lighting scheme on my 72x18x27 150 gallon sps/clam tank and was wondering if this is enough light compared to my 400 watt Radiums on Galaxy ballasts. I can't fit the large 10 bulb 60" ATI Power Module over the 18" tank width footprint so would have to consider the 8 bulb 60" combo. My rock structure is only halfway up the water column with approximately 30 SPS and 6 clams on the sandbed.

Your help is appreciated as always.

 

[jp634]

post in the lighting section and ask the grimm reefer if it will work. he is the lighting expert and i mean expert.

 

[Amphiprion]

For those of you that have made the switch from halide to t5, are you happy with the results?

I'm considering changing my lighting scheme on my 72x18x27 150 gallon sps/clam tank and was wondering if this is enough light compared to my 400 watt Radiums on Galaxy ballasts. I can't fit the large 10 bulb 60" ATI Power Module over the 18" tank width footprint so would have to consider the 8 bulb 60" combo. My rock structure is only halfway up the water column with approximately 30 SPS and 6 clams on the sandbed.

Your help is appreciated as always.

That would still be sufficient for your application in terms of T5 lamps. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either in this case. You'd likely get a bit more light with the 400w Radiums, but at the expense of a lot more energy. Lamp replacement for the Radiums will be a bit more than the T5s (all depending upon what lamp options you go with--I figured an average of ~$24-25 USD per T5 lamp). I'm figuring about $80 per Radium lamp w/ 3 lamps. One other option is to use something like a Lumenarc which excels in spread, but less in intensity and only use 2 400w lamps. Still more energy, but less in lamp replacement costs by a slight margin. I guess it boils down to how much light you actually want and which "look" you prefer more. Aesthetically speaking, I like the look and quality of light that is emitted from a halide lamp over T5s. I've used both exclusively, too. If I had to make a choice on your size tank, however, I think the T5 fixture would be the most efficient choice. If I had more money to spend and energy was less of an issue, I'd go the route of the halides. JMO/E