Re: HQI DE & T5 , The Shnitz ?
Re: HQI DE & T5 , The Shnitz ?
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9323249#post9323249 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Steve 926
Hello Grim & Hahn.
A few pages back, you both mentioned combining MH & T5.
Is this combo better suited for a larger tank, or is a smaller one (50 gal.36L 15w 20T) applicable. The combo sounds like it may be the best of both systems.
Any Thoughts on this ? and of course, :lol: what recommendations do you have on available systems. 150K DE ? 175k DE, 4 x 39 T5 ?
AS ALWAYS
Thanks to you both, for your input & experience !!!
Steve :smokin:
The economics as well as logistics of MH+T5 combos favors using them on tanks that are usually 100gallons or larger. There are exceptions, but usually with custom tanks. For instance, a 75g w/o a center brace is an excellent candidate for a single 250watt halide in the center with 2 rows of blue+ T5s to suppliment. The other options are dual 150s with those T5s, but then you are paying 2x as much as a single 250watt really, since bulbs, ballasts, and reflectors for 150s cost just as much as 250s, sometimes more. The combo in this case ends up being a very expensive, yet limiting proposition (I mean, 150s arent exactly a bulb you can upgrade to a much larger tank with). So 250s are really the best bang-for-the-buck halide. Using two of them alone on a 75g though is plenty of light... but given the wattage and the output if you were to use two 14,000K or 20,000K bulbs in this config, you would be better off with a T5 only system compared to a MH only system.
So this is why I say usually 100g systems or larger is where you want to start looking at MH+T5 systems... but thats purely from the logistics/economics standpoint. If you want to, there is no reason why a single 150watt MH with a 2-4 rows of T5s on a 58g isnt a good idea... its just an added expense.
The other reason I gave is logistics. Well, halides take up space, and on a tank that is 12" thick, you arent going to be able to fit a reflector thats 8-9 inches thick with more than one T5 lamp. On an 18" thick tank, you might get 2 rows of T5s in with some halides provided the halides arent in larger, lumenarc style reflectors. There is a way to get 4 rows of 4' reflectors over a 125g with dual halides... but like I said... its not easy. Really, 24" thick tanks are where you can easily place halide pendants and 4 rows of T5 fixtures with ease (you could go up to 6 rows if you wanted and the halide reflectors were thin enough). Yet another reason why I say 100g tanks on up or something custom. Fitting the actual lights and reflectors over a tank that is too narrow can be impossible. For this, and some other reasons, a T5 only system (sometimes MH only system, like on a 24" cube) is a better idea.
