t5 versus metal halide
- Thread starter tonyalberda
- Start date
suzimcmullen
New member
True, but the most economical t-5s are from sunlight supply and they are tiny little lights that have to be hung on a shelf above or some other hanging fixture created. So as long as there is a few inches of space all around then there's no need to worry about the heat. I also don't see why it's necessary to have a bright and glaring reflector. My husband created a cheap fixture out of pvc pipe and attatched my t-5s to it and my vegetables grow just fine without the reflectors. By doing it ourselves, we have saved 150s per homemade fixture. I have more lights on order...back order and very late grrr.... for my new tank. Since I positioned the stand and tank under a bookshelf between 2 Ikea drawer type/bookshelves, the lights will be installed about 4 inches above my tank.
Anyway, I just think metal halide is completely unecessary. But I guess I'll find out. The other thing I like about the t-5s is how easy it is to string them together. They will run up to 8 lights on the same plug in and they just plug from one fixture to the other nice and easy. So I bought 4 and can easily leave space on each side to install 2 more on each side whenever I desire. 8 t-5s is a TON of light!
I can't really imagine needing that much. But I might want to try the more difficult corals someday.
Suzi
Anyway, I just think metal halide is completely unecessary. But I guess I'll find out. The other thing I like about the t-5s is how easy it is to string them together. They will run up to 8 lights on the same plug in and they just plug from one fixture to the other nice and easy. So I bought 4 and can easily leave space on each side to install 2 more on each side whenever I desire. 8 t-5s is a TON of light!
I can't really imagine needing that much. But I might want to try the more difficult corals someday.Suzi
Grow lights and aquaurium lights are very different.Comparing the two is well like apples and tomatoes or is it oranges.
I've observed many aquariums with t5 lighting . For me metal halide and vho supplementation can not be beat aestheticaly. REad up and look at different combinations before you by. I personally use hamilton 250w SE MH and Vho actinic and haven't seen anything better to my taste.
I've observed many aquariums with t5 lighting . For me metal halide and vho supplementation can not be beat aestheticaly. REad up and look at different combinations before you by. I personally use hamilton 250w SE MH and Vho actinic and haven't seen anything better to my taste.
suzimcmullen
New member
Actually, that's not really true. The growlights I use in my growroom come in all the same spectrum choices that are required by reef tanks. I have bought the blue attinic bulbs and the other lights that come with them will be ok to use until they are burned out. The basic t-5 fixture will accept any kind of light spectrum available in t-5s. I ordered my fixtures through my LFS and wish I had gotten them from my normal supplier. I could have had them 5 times over in the time I have been waiting for the LFS.
Suzi
Suzi
Wow this is definately a thread slamming on t5's.
It really depends on what the original poster wants. He/She should see different tanks and judge for themselves. I've seen people switch from MH -> T5 and were happy and I've seen people who switched back to MH because they weren't happy with the T5's.
I personally have the T5's and am very happy with them. I will say that even though many have mentioned that MH and T5's produce the same amount of heat, the hottest my tank gets during the summer in california is about 81 degrees WITHOUT a chiller. You can believe what you want with T5's dispersing heat over a larger area, yaddy yaddy yaddy... but by maintaining a tank WITHOUT a chiller is so much nicer during the summer.
There are lots of opinions about either lights, but I've been very happy with the growth on my tank and do think that my corals color up very nicely even nicer than some MH tanks... Each to their own! Cheers!
It really depends on what the original poster wants. He/She should see different tanks and judge for themselves. I've seen people switch from MH -> T5 and were happy and I've seen people who switched back to MH because they weren't happy with the T5's.
I personally have the T5's and am very happy with them. I will say that even though many have mentioned that MH and T5's produce the same amount of heat, the hottest my tank gets during the summer in california is about 81 degrees WITHOUT a chiller. You can believe what you want with T5's dispersing heat over a larger area, yaddy yaddy yaddy... but by maintaining a tank WITHOUT a chiller is so much nicer during the summer.
There are lots of opinions about either lights, but I've been very happy with the growth on my tank and do think that my corals color up very nicely even nicer than some MH tanks... Each to their own! Cheers!
brians4671
New member
as far as led i havent seen or heard they can support sps?.
suzimcmullen
New member
Actually, I've read on here that SPS can be placed under t-5s so long as they are placed high.
Suzi
Suzi
Tswifty
New member
There are arguments that T-5 units which house individual reflectors for each bulb, are just as powerful as MH's.
there's a picture of a BB reef tank with T-5's about 1/2 way to 3/4 down the page on this thread. The unit is also shown.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1039600&perpage=25&pagenumber=9
there's a picture of a BB reef tank with T-5's about 1/2 way to 3/4 down the page on this thread. The unit is also shown.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1039600&perpage=25&pagenumber=9
Tswifty
New member
LED's are ridiculously expensive, and have variable light outputs and spectrums that can be controlled by the user.
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/LE...s/48_inch__AquaIllumination_LED_Light_System_(320W)_w!_Controller_&_Mounting_Legs_by_C2D
Each his own is wise advice. Look at different systems in operation before you buy and pick something you personaly like
Suzi, How can you judge the aesthetics of a grow light for an aquarium? No water to shine through, no corals to color, etc?Maybe it's not like apples and oranges;more like choosing a car to use as a boat.
Suzi, How can you judge the aesthetics of a grow light for an aquarium? No water to shine through, no corals to color, etc?Maybe it's not like apples and oranges;more like choosing a car to use as a boat.
I think there is HUGE misconception about T5's. If its a good T5 setup with individual reflectors, you can grow ANYTHING you can grow under MH. I'm able to keep SPS and grow them on the bottom of my tank. I have a 90g. Not super deep, but I think it does a good job penetrating the tank.
Even if you get similar par,arguably. The single point lighting provided by mh is more similar to the single point light of the sun,in my opinion. The shimmer is reflective of the surface and tends to pulse the light in a way more diffuse systems don't for what it's worth.
tonyalberda
New member
so to wrap up this thread i guess its what a parson likes and can afford. thank you all for your responses
D to the P
New member
agreed.
suzimcmullen
New member
Well I've spent about 1200 dollars on lights of all types and spectrums in the last year experimenting in my growroom. I agree that it may take some tweaking to find what I want. But, the point is that the fixture is the same no matter which type of bulbs I end up using. I know there are probably thousands of fixtures out there. But the ones I have on order have tons of options for bulbs. It's about mixing the colors. The blue lights are going to offset the other colors. I don't think most people realize how many different types of bulbs are out there!
Suzi
Suzi
Children, children. Basically it all comes down to this:
T-5 and MH solely is based on opnions.
They are the same, a T-5 with individual reflector driven with a good ballast can perform and sometime outperform MH. Depending on your color combination you can grow anything and gain outstanding color. T-5 are under rated in terms of par because you can use up 12 bulbs or 8 bulb combinations. The bluer the better. etc. etc. etc. Just read up. Look at this thread:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/totm/index.php
You also have to remember growing corals rely on various factors:
Stability (params)
Skimming
Lighting
So if you like the shimmer go with a MH set up. VHOs are good for supplementation. HTH and I hope I covered most of it.
T-5 and MH solely is based on opnions.
They are the same, a T-5 with individual reflector driven with a good ballast can perform and sometime outperform MH. Depending on your color combination you can grow anything and gain outstanding color. T-5 are under rated in terms of par because you can use up 12 bulbs or 8 bulb combinations. The bluer the better. etc. etc. etc. Just read up. Look at this thread:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/totm/index.php
You also have to remember growing corals rely on various factors:
Stability (params)
Skimming
Lighting
So if you like the shimmer go with a MH set up. VHOs are good for supplementation. HTH and I hope I covered most of it.
Similar threads
- Sticky
