T5 vs MH

[twopumpsump]

I tried running a search on this but the server is too busy.

I have a 48" 55g and I don't have good lights for it yet. Some say MH and others say T5. I don't want to limit myself by the type of lights that I get. I want to put as much as possible in this tank. A concern that I have it that my tank is only 11" in width. What would be my best option?

[Ti]

use both

[bertoni]

Either or both will work, if you get good fixtures. The choice comes down to personal tastes and cost issues. The 48" length means you likely would want two MH bulbs to light the entire tank, which could be fairly expensive. The MH light would give the shimmer lines, and different colors than the T5.

[twopumpsump]

If the two will give me to different colors is there some kind of example that you can give me to help me decide?

[cfarrow2]

Just FYI, I just upgraded from PC to T5 and my water temp. went up about four or five degrees. Keep in mind that you'll need to have a contingency plan for cooling your water when you upgrade. Many things factor in to water temp, so you might get lucky and not have to worry. In my case, I put a small fan on top of my tank to blow under the lights and it worked like a charm. Minus the extra noise, of course.

[TekCat]

I have 55G with 8x54W T5 HO lights (http://www.aquauniverse.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,1060/category_id,51/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/) . Under these babies you could keep almost anything.

Cheers :)

[cartouche]

Its all a case of personal preference, I have 2x250w MH with a blue & glolife tube... The tubes come on an hour before and stay on an hour after the MH's ..... Although there meant to be subdued and simulate dawn/dusk etc the effect compared to HM's is imho a bit boring... As your probably aware you don't get the shimmer lines from tubes as there not a 'pointsource' light therefore it doesn't look anywhere near as realistic.

Having said that, many people have great success with T5's and are very happy with their setups so it's really down to personal choice... You have to decide maybe 4 T5's against 2x150w MH with the latter probably being double the cost. If I was you I'd go for the MH's if the budget can stretch but that doesn't mean to say you won't get success with T5's.

Maybe 1x150MH & 2xT5 tubes??

[crumbletop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7506437#post7506437 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cfarrow2
Just FYI, I just upgraded from PC to T5 and my water temp. went up about four or five degrees.

I went from 4x65W PCs to 6x54W T5s and didn't see that much temp increase (maybe a degree -- but my fans take care of that). Are you using overdriven T5s? Those give off a lot more heat.

BTW on the fans, you can get really quiet computer fans that you won't really hear. I got some 12V Stealth fans and run them at 9V and they are completely silent.

Jack

[bertoni]

Every model of bulb is a bit different, so choosing a setup is really best done by looking at some setups in person. I know that's pretty hard, too. There are various online pictures of bulb comparisons, but I'm not sure how effective they are in duplicating what you'd see in person, given the monitor calibration issues.

[reefnetworth]

there are a couple of fixture makers that contain both, MH and PC lighting with moon lights and fans installed. Coralife and outer orbit. the "orbit" has two MH 14,000K, one PC 96w 10,000K/6500K in one and 420/460 Actinics in the other. not sure about Coralife or other brands. ive heard the Coralife has aluminum housing that holds heat. while the outer orbit is plastic. REEF-ON!!!