From 250 MH to 150 MH

[mheaven]

Hello MR. I am considering to replace my 250 DE MH to 150 DE MH (looking to save a little on my electric bill). I need some input from all who can provide it. Some of you know my setup, for those that don?t here is a brief summery.

40B SPS dominant
2 250w de mh w/2-39w T-5HO actinics.
Lights are about 10" away from surface of water.

I?m not too worried about color, just don?t know if I?ll get the same growth/light penetration with the 150's

The changeover will be about $300

All input is welcomed.

Thanks, Danny

 

[jackson6745]

Danny you will be very disappointed going from 250's to 150's. If you want to save cash on the E bill and not sacrifice growth and color, I would go with a QUALITY hoT5 fixture. A Sunlight Supply Tek 6 bulb fixture would be great on your tank.

I went from 150w to 250w and now to T5's on my 34g nano. I honestly never had faster growth on my SPS since using T5's. Overall the tank looks brighter than the 250w as well.

HTH

 

[PolandSpring]

Danny you will be very disappointed going from 250's to 150's. If you want to save cash on the E bill and not sacrifice growth and color, I would go with a QUALITY hoT5 fixture. A Sunlight Supply Tek 6 bulb fixture would be great on your tank.

I went from 150w to 250w and now to T5's on my 34g nano. I honestly never had faster growth on my SPS since using T5's. Overall the tank looks brighter than the 250w as well.

HTH

but you use ATI's !!!

 

[jackson6745]

Yeah I know but not many guys like the price of them I think the sunpower fixtures are a good deal for what you get.

 

[mheaven]

I had T5 on a frag tank for about 6 weeks and I wasn’t too happy with it. I don’t really want to go the t5 rout.

 

[jackson6745]

Which T5 fixture did you use?

 

[PolandSpring]

if i were you, i would get ATI's. I think they are the best fixture. Very sleek, amazing growth with them, barely any heat, no noise, uses much less electricity than MH, no ballast, and the colors pop so much more! Also, i like the growth under t5's than MH, the corals grow more bushy. Just will be a little pricey, but i think its worth it.

 

[mheaven]

The t5 was a diy with different light combo, can’t remember the setup of bulbs.

As I mentioned looking to stay with Mh bulbs, not really interested in t5.

 

[isgon26]

How about LED'S?

 

[prattreef]

If possible, lower the lamps a few inches to compensate for loss of intensity.

 

[mheaven]

isgon26, the leds I would only consider are the Pacific Sun type. But they out of my price range.

Prattreef, I thought about that and I think it would work. I think with my current light is too much for my corals. Don’t get me wrong, I get good/excellent growth and color. I just want to try the 150 mh.

 

[jf2381]

Danny you will be very disappointed going from 250's to 150's. If you want to save cash on the E bill and not sacrifice growth and color, I would go with a QUALITY hoT5 fixture. A Sunlight Supply Tek 6 bulb fixture would be great on your tank.

I went from 150w to 250w and now to T5's on my 34g nano. I honestly never had faster growth on my SPS since using T5's. Overall the tank looks brighter than the 250w as well.

HTH

Hey Rich,

I'm going to setup a tank soon and I'm trying to decide between ATI HOT5 8x54 watts fixture or 2x 250w MH with 2 T5 bulbs on a 75 gallon tank. I plan on keeping SPS and some softies.
Based on your opinion, it sounds like my best bet would be the T5 fixture because I will get same if not better results than with MH.

Is that correct?

Thanks,
Jose

 

[isgon26]

i think you can get away with 150 in your tank. Like Prattreef said just lower them to 6-8 inches. Your tank is not that deep. Emmanuel ran his 125 with 150w for a long time before upgrading to Led's. And his tank under the 150 looked awesome.

isgon26, the leds I would only consider are the Pacific Sun type. But they out of my price range.

Prattreef, I thought about that and I think it would work. I think with my current light is too much for my corals. Don’t get me wrong, I get good/excellent growth and color. I just want to try the 150 mh.

 

[isgon26]

Theres a thread here about the knock offs led's for $320.lol

 

[mheaven]

Anyone else with some input?

 

[jackson6745]

Hey Rich,

I'm going to setup a tank soon and I'm trying to decide between ATI HOT5 8x54 watts fixture or 2x 250w MH with 2 T5 bulbs on a 75 gallon tank. I plan on keeping SPS and some softies.
Based on your opinion, it sounds like my best bet would be the T5 fixture because I will get same if not better results than with MH.

Is that correct?

Thanks,
Jose

I'll send you a PM Jose. I don't want to hijack Danny's thread.