hey i was wondering about going t5 lighting i heard mixed reviews about this lighting i had used mh threw the years and were happy with the results but i dont feel like doing a hood set up on this tank i was wondering if i go with a 4 bulb 39w t5 fixture would it be enough to keep sps in the tank
lighting for a 30g long
- Thread starter lordmbsa
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KevinYates
New member
YES! but a 6 bulb would be better, than you can have more colors coming out of thoose SPS.
-Kevin.
-Kevin.
mcarroll
Member
Definitely possible to keep stony corals under T5's...seen a lot of great tanks under as little as 6-bulb fixtures.
With Metal Halide or T5 (or...) the key is intensity. Color temp. of light is important but secondary.
FYI, running a comparable set of T5 and MH lights side by side, you will find similar heat generation and power consumption. Also at this level of lighting, adequate cooling is arguably more important (and not quite as simple as MH IMO) in a T5 hood than it is in a MH hood. Lastly, T5 tubes are likely going to be more expensive in the long run than would be a comparable set of MH bulbs as they have a six to eight month duty cycle compared to about twelve months for MH.
All that said, you can't really go wrong with either T5 or MH if you do it right. I also 2nd Kevin's suggestion at considering 6 tubes vs. four if you do go T5.
Good luck!
-Matt
P.S. Quick edit...looks like I'm a MH fan boy since I didn't really post any of the "pros" you get with T5 lighting. Variety of lighting options has to be the foremost advantage. With MH, it's true there's not much limit to your selection of color temp. However, it's likely that you're going to deploy the same color bulb to all your sockets. With six T5 slots, you're fully capable of popping a different color tube in each slot to get the exact overall color you like. (This is not a free perk as the tubes aren't cheap...heheh. Nobody said it was a cheap hobby, right?)
With Metal Halide or T5 (or...) the key is intensity. Color temp. of light is important but secondary.
FYI, running a comparable set of T5 and MH lights side by side, you will find similar heat generation and power consumption. Also at this level of lighting, adequate cooling is arguably more important (and not quite as simple as MH IMO) in a T5 hood than it is in a MH hood. Lastly, T5 tubes are likely going to be more expensive in the long run than would be a comparable set of MH bulbs as they have a six to eight month duty cycle compared to about twelve months for MH.
All that said, you can't really go wrong with either T5 or MH if you do it right. I also 2nd Kevin's suggestion at considering 6 tubes vs. four if you do go T5.
Good luck!
-Matt
P.S. Quick edit...looks like I'm a MH fan boy since I didn't really post any of the "pros" you get with T5 lighting. Variety of lighting options has to be the foremost advantage. With MH, it's true there's not much limit to your selection of color temp. However, it's likely that you're going to deploy the same color bulb to all your sockets. With six T5 slots, you're fully capable of popping a different color tube in each slot to get the exact overall color you like. (This is not a free perk as the tubes aren't cheap...heheh. Nobody said it was a cheap hobby, right?)
