t-5 and mh

[duke62]

ive been reading up on alot of threads on t-5 and mh lately and im still a bit confused.t-5 lights are great lights and will grow sps, lps, softies and consume alot less energy then mh.they are cheaper to buy and bulbs last longer and a cheaper to replace bulbs.they have minimal heat so some tanks will not need a chiller and they have a good if not better than mh light spectrum so why do people use mh.is it just to make the corals grow faster?is that worth all the money a year in energy cost to make a coral grow faster.ive seen pics of the same type of corals growing under t-5 lights and mh lights which shows them both having same color just the corals under the t-5s were just a bit smaller, not much i must add .or do people just get the mh cause they like they way corals look under the light,and is that worth the extra money spent on energy.just curious to feedback

 

[Tito]

Ins't there a difference in wattage between T5 and MH. MH are high intensity while T5s carry a lot let wattage per gallon. I thought to grow or maintain SPS and LPS you needed a LOT of wattage per gallon? Something you cant get with T5s.

 

[Dace]

Ins't there a difference in wattage between T5 and MH. MH are high intensity while T5s carry a lot let wattage per gallon. I thought to grow or maintain SPS and LPS you needed a LOT of wattage per gallon? Something you cant get with T5s.

This not true, you can house sps and have great growth and color with T5 lighting, even though i'm a die hard MH Person
What you can't get from t5 lighting is the beautiful ripple affect in the water. as for the reason i think mh is better is that depending on the right temp lighting i don't think t5 color up sps as nicely as mh. Read my sig VVVVVV

 

[duke62]

well thats just it.is it worth the extra 50 or 100 dollars extra a month for that color.ive had mh for my 120 250x2 and now i have t-5 for my 30 and i have to tell ya the truth i dont see much difference in color and i am having a massive amount of coraline algae growing in my setup which my 120 did not have.as for growth its to early right now to tell so i cannot make a judgement on that yet.so really what is the big deal with mh that people go out and spend 2 times what t-5 cost,double electric and double for replacement of bulbs

 

[duke62]

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=SL-960015&Category_Code=SunlightT5
this is the light i have and i have 2 peices of sps in my setup and they seem to be doing well.my pink birdesnest is even showing growth in the 3 weeks ive had it.and i know its a hardier coral that is why i got it first to see if it thrives in my system.

 

[oddball516]

The config depends on the type of lamp you have. How many bulbs are in the thing.

 

[NYreefNoob]

< has to disagree on color :shhh:, there are a few of us who keep sps under t5's successfully. some thing's might not color up as well and others do better, i myself did t5 for 1.5 yr's with great success, even with purple monster, i do believe t5 does much better being over driven for a little higher output, i cannot comment on any bulbs but geismann which is what i used. ive done mh as well and currently use it now, unless someone wants to trade me 8 bulb 24" with 660's :tongue1: you get the shimmer with t5 also but by cheating with alot of top water flow, dont believe the heat is alot less either, my 50g breeder with od t5 kept my chiller on more then my 60g cube with a 250w mh 6" off the water and i ran 4 fans in the canopy on my 50g, ming and alexpescado have very nice sps tanks with t5's