t5 lighting question help

[hotrodder]

I'm starting a coral farm. Will have acros and monti's. My coral farm tank is 96x48x12. Should I go with a combo t5 and MH or will t5 be good enough. My goal is to sell and trade. I only have experience with the Metal Halides. I 've gotten good results with those, but have not experimented with T5's. Because of the depth and width of the tank, I'm considering 2 48" fixtures with 8 bulbs all T5's. What do you think?
I want to do my part to preserve the wild reefs and I have the room for it.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Anonymous]

Assuming the electricity usage would be the same across the options, I would make the decision based on economics. Tally up bulb replacements with each method and choose the cheapest option. Even though you state that your in it for 'preservation', being a fiscally sound venture will ensure that it is also long lasting. MH bulbs, when properly run, can last a lot longer than popular opinion suggests. They lose a good bit of intensity (20-25%?) in the first month or so then level out. I haven't seen any studies on how long they stay on that plataeu, but I've seen reports of them remaining essentially unchanged for 18 months. (If anyone has seen anything recent on the matter, I'm interested in links ).

 

[SnowManSnow]

IMO I would go with t5 over that shallow of a tank, hands down. If you plan on MH you will almost certainly have to run a chiller. 48" wide is really wide for a tank too. It will really drive up your cost of lighting (just a thought). That being said if you are only under 12" of water I bet you could run 6 t5 lamps for a total of 12 and be just fine. Iv'e been running an Aquactinics Constellation over my 24" tank for about 5 months now and the SPS's in there have REALLY taken off. I actually see more growth and color than I did when I had them under 400w HQI 14K Pheonix (probably because I was frying them). Just make sure you get the right combinatin of lamps for the system.

I think T5 is largely underestimated. High par + low heat + lower electric bill + good coral response = a winner in my book.

B