Lucky ol'e me....increase budget

[badwrasse]

Keep in mind 2 t5 bulbs are as much as 1 MH bulb to replace and why do you think MH cost more money to run 400WATTS cost the same no matter what bulb you chose

 

[badwrasse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15449193#post15449193 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaWave523
Well my tank right now with just the regular flurescent lights get my tank up to 81-82...so I can't imagine it with MH.

put a fan on it

 

[badwrasse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15448766#post15448766 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaWave523
hahah, yeah, i might have to retract because i know MH's get too hot. I dont want to invest in a chiller and just have MH to be on for 1 hour for viewing pleasure.

I have a canopy i want to employ or maybe put legs on my lights....so anyone else?

when I talked to you before about not runnig you MH all the time I didnt quite mean you can only have you lights on for an hour a day I ment run them at "high noon" so to speak at the middle of your T5 run cycle

So if you run your lights from say 3pm til 10pm thats 9hrs start your t5's run them for 2 hrs then set your MH's to come on at 4pm run them WITH your t5's and have MH set to shut off at 8pm run your t5's for 2 more hrs and they shut down at 10pm

Now along side with this your heater: What do you set it at? I have mine set at 76* not 78-80 why? water temp does not run at what you set it at. It just means it wont get below that set piont. When they run they will usualy run until the temp is a little higher so there is a cushion (even your house thermostat does this check it out if you dont believe me). So if you run your temp at 78 its almost 79-80 before it shuts off. Like i said though every tank is differant so some people wont agree with this but I have to set mine low but it NEVER gets even close to 76*

also you sould run a fan on your tank hour after lights on half hr after lights off or something like that.
Every tank is differant so this will take some playing with to get it narrowed down but it works my temp swing only about 1* many one and half and all of this will depend on what your house temp is of coarse

now one more this to consider #1 your take is 24'' deep IMO t5's dont cut though the water like MH's do
#2 like i stated in your last thead and was stated on here "shimmer" your wont get the underwater effect that MH give you with t5's
#3 400 watts is 400watts the only reason they say MH cost more is that the bulbs of t5' last longer than MH, in two years you will replace MH bulbs 3-4 times (if you replace them when its recomended) you will replace t5's once

if you get an 8 bulb 432 watt t5 light strip in 2 years it will cost ruffly $200 @ $25 a bulb average price. (i have seen them cheaper and higher)

if you buy a MH light it will cost 360-480
but the deals are out there

I hope this helps shead some light on some gray area's for you