Which lighting should I buy?

[morriskind]

I got a 55g reef tank that I'm just starting and I want to know if I should get the T-5 or the MH. I want to be able to have any kind of coral or clam in my tank.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I prefer T5s for that shallow of a tank, but both will work.

 

[morriskind]

I was told T-5's arent powerful enough for all corals, even in a 55g tank. Was the person who told me this wrong?

 

[papagimp]

High output T5's with individual reflectors, and in enough quanity and you can keep whatever you want in there. The person wasn't "wrong" exactly, just probably never used T5's themselves and going off their own experience only. From what I understand, utilizing the high output T5's is still fairly new in the hobby and many are set in there metal halide preferences.

T5'S are cheaper, run cooler than MH, and with many different bulbs being used, you can customize color spectrum a little more efficiently I would think. But they have drawbacks as well.

I have 6 x 54 watts of T5's over my 55g tank. Looks marvelous, and even my corcea and sps look happy.

 

[zoomfish1]

A 4x54w T5HO fixture, with the individual reflectors would allow you to keep anything you wanted in a 55g. Lighting intensity will be on par with 175w halide set up.

 

[techigirl78]

I agree with papa. You just have to make sure you get good ones if you use T5s. At this point, it is up to you. Maybe try to find some people locally so you can see what each looks like in person.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

FWIW, I have both Metal Halide setups and T5HO setups. For most average sized, general reefs, T5HO is by far the best way to go. On the other hand, as your tanks get bigger, deeper, and more demanding, it might be better to go with Metal Halides.

 

[jmack]

My tank is 26" deep..can I go with T5HO's? If so, how many do I need?

 

[ahullsb]

I have t5's and mh's. But I'm thinking if your tank is 26inches deep, than you should either consider mh's or plan on keeping your corals with high lighting requirements near the top. But I could be wrong about the efficiency of t5's. There are some great mh'/t5 combo lights out there in my opinion too. You can run the mh's for only a few hours to save on energy, and supplement with t5's all day if your energy bills are a concern. Helps in the summertime with bills and tank temp anyway. Just an idea though

 

[ahullsb]

Oh and for how many? I would guess 6 but I would get a second opinion!

 

[bertoni]

A good T5 setup would allow any animals you want, and would be more energy-efficient on that size setup. I don't like the T5 look, personally, so it might be worth checking some setups in person, if possible. Lighting has a lot of personal taste issues.

 

[Zestay]

or you could do both!
use metal halides for your 10- 14 k spectrum

and some t5HO for your acentics.. just a thought

 

[ahullsb]

I still think the most versatile would be a t5 mix of daylight and actinic on seperate switches so you can control dusk and dawn. The mh's would just be something to act as high par for your "noon" hour. I run 10000k mh's right now for 8 hours and 4 t5 actinics for 10. But come summertime I'm thinking of trying out the earlier method. Sacramento can stay over 100 degrees for weeks on end during the summer!