mh vs t5

tabndust

tabndust

New member
ive been seeing alot of tanks lately and im last minute rethinking my mh's after seeing a couple t5 lit tanks.
is my tank going to need the mhs its going to be softies and a couple lps?

the setup is a 120g 48x24x24 with 250w mh, but if it wont effect anything im thinkin t5's.

any suggestions would be great
 
Softies and LPS do very well under VHO, PC, and T5. If that is all you are ever going to keep, then yes, you may want to rethink MH.
 
if i decide to get rid of the mhs and go t5 where is a good source to find them?

or any where to just get ballasts, sockets, and bulbs seperate so i can make my own
 
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I have done a ton of reading and I have to say that there are definately two camps when it concerns T5 vs MH and SPS's, but there are some awesome SPS tanks out there under T5 lighting.

IMHO they are fine for LPS and SPS as long as you have individual reflectors. The jury is still out on clams under t5, and softies may have some problems with how bright the t5s are so be sure to make some shadowed areas with your rock.

That being said, I am doing my 120 system with only T5's, 6X54watt using 660 Icecap ballasts and individual reflectors in a hood. I really like the fact that the T5's use less electricity, the bulbs last longer, and the heat issues are less. What is the downside?? No shimmer.

Definately do some searches on T5's and read some of Grimreefer's posts. I do know that individual reflectors are a must! Best place to find T5 retros talk to Sean Danekind (from Cincy) or you can find retros at www.reefgeek.com. You can also do what I did and look for used ballasts. if you are looking for an all in one unit, I believe Premium Aquatics has some on sale.
 
if shimmer is all im going to lose then i can live with that.

sunni where did you get yours if you dont mind me asking?
 
I watched and bought my ballasts/wiring harness used, then Sean hooked me up and ordered my bulbs, reflectors, and endcaps (I asked Grimreefer for the best bulb combo).

I am using 2 Icecap 660 and a 440 ballast so I will have 3 different light timers, but you could use just 2 660's or 3 440's. I also got a moonlight kit and a couple of Icecap fans I will put into the hood.
 
That "shimmer" is actually pretty important. From Eric Borneman's book, Aquarium Corals...

"Metal halide bulbs create strong glitter lines in the aquarium. These are caused by the point source light striking ripples on the surface. Ripples can act like moving lenses and magnify the light dramatically (up to 15x), creating very natural-looking patterns of rippling lines of shadow and brightness throughout the tank. There is some research that suggests that the periodic amplification of light energy by the glitter lines is important in maintaining the health of light-demanding corals, as it serves to "punch" light deep into the coral tissue containing the zooxanthellae. The flashes typically amplify light energy by approximately 200% from 1-4 times per second for about 0.1 of that same second. Therefore, for up to one half of each second, corals receive greatly amplified light energy."

Now granted, if you're doing just softies and LPS it may not be AS important as if you were doing SPS, but don't discard those glitter lines as being purely aesthetic.
 
I would also assume the original setup cost to be more with T5's. I wouldn't use anything but MH's but that's JMO! :)
 
I love my T5's, and honestly haven't been overly impressed with MH that I've seen thus far. Understand that this is not a bash on them, but I just haven't seen anything thus far that holds up to my T5 setup (and that's only 4x39 on a 58, a lot less watts per gallon than most MH setups).

I got the Sunlight Supply/TEK reefgeek setup, but had them add the IceCap reflectors.

I've got mostly softies (and will probably stay that way on this one), and they're loving it.
 
your call on the lghts mh do better on the bottom of the tank, and i will not give up my clams. your tank is deeper than 24 if it is a 120?
 
The Jury "is not out" on T5's. They do work. :)
There are PLENTY of T5 lit tanks out there now that are thriving. Even a couple T5 TOTM.

I've been using the T5's for 3 years now and honestly I like the MH "look" better, So i use both. MH for the main lighting and the T5 for color. But I have kept SPS Clams and an Anemone under T5 only with out problems.

Grimreefer (steve) actually did some PAR tests on his tank and tested (overdriven) T5 bulbss having higher par than MH. Actually, one of the MH bulbs and reflectors he used was mine. Is defense of the MH the T5 bulbs were new and the MH was used. I offered him a brand new Ushio bulb but he did not want to chance breaking it. (de, they suck to remove and install)

tabndust, for what your wanting to do, T5s on IC ballasts and SLRs would be a lot of light. You could even get away with just using 4 bulbs and one 660 ballast. It will be as bright as 2 250w MH alone would be.

I will also say that I do not use T5 bulbs for as long as people say they last...
I've found that they really drop off in brightness at 1 year so I replace mine then.

Reefgeek and Premiumaquatics are both very good for retro kits.
 
The cool part about T-5 is that you can get a dimmable ballast. Much easier to simulate dawn and dusk conditions. You can not do that with MH. Yes there are a few MH ballasts that will dim however the bulb much be full power for a short period of time before you can dim it.

With all of that being said I have 4 X 250 MH bulbs over my tank and I am about to add 2x400 MH bulbs.
 
thanks everybody for the input, now all this is making me realy have to think about what i wanna do. ill probably just start looking for a good deal on some t5's and if i decide i dont like them ill just go back to my mh setup


DONALDUGLYDUCK i just went and measured it to make sure and it is 24 inches tall
 
In the end of the day whatever you decide, if your tank is happy and you like the way it looks, then to heck with everyone else's thoughts ;)
 
You know you can always do both, you can use the T-5's for supplimentation as well as dawn to dusk effects.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6767273#post6767273 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ronc98
You know you can always do both, you can use the T-5's for supplimentation as well as dawn to dusk effects.
Click to expand...

I agree with Ron, I would use both... Also there are some softies that don't do well with T5s... I think the main ones are mushrooms, and if I recall those are some of the softies you are really into...

As far as getting them I would go with the Sunlight Supply (TEK) with IceCap Reflectors... If you order from reefgeek/URL] you can tell him that you want to upgrade to the IC Reflectors and I think its like $5.00 per reflector or so...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6766575#post6766575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
Grimreefer (steve) actually did some PAR tests on his tank and tested (overdriven) T5 bulbss having higher par than MH. Actually, one of the MH bulbs and reflectors he used was mine. Is defense of the MH the T5 bulbs were new and the MH was used. I offered him a brand new Ushio bulb but he did not want to chance breaking it. (de, they suck to remove and install)

tabndust, for what your wanting to do, T5s on IC ballasts and SLRs would be a lot of light. You could even get away with just using 4 bulbs and one 660 ballast. It will be as bright as 2 250w MH alone would be.
Click to expand...

On my new tank I am going to be using 4x 250w MH and I will be starting with 8x T5s on IceCap ballasts... When you run the T5s on IC ballasts you overdrive them by about 1.5x... So if you run 48" (54w) you will get around 80w per bulb...
 
Yep. Or a little more per what IC says...

That is assuming your using 4 bulbs. Less bulbs = even more overdriven.
 
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