HQI vs T5

HQI is deffinatley the best for good acro growth and color. (1 run HQI on my 120 and 850, for water shimmer and the best acro growth)

T5 depending on the number of bulbs you use, decent acro growth decent color. I have T5 on my 20 gallon species tanks they are okay, my acro's browned out polyps, mushrooms and leathers to fairly well in here.

VHO good acro growth and good color. (I run VHO's on my 180 and love them, they don't get to hot)
 
I ran T-5s on my old 75.I loved em.
Kept SPS in all levels of the tank,had good growth and colors.
 
lol. I just had my mind set on HQI again and now I'll have to think about T5.

I do notice that the HQI has some shimmer effect and make the tank looks very lively.
 
Wes888 said:
lol. I just had my mind set on HQI again and now I'll have to think about T5.

I do notice that the HQI has some shimmer effect and make the tank looks very lively.
Click to expand...

Sorry Wes:D
HQI does give you that shimmer effect.I liked my T-5s,and actually still burn T-5s.My fixture has 8X 54 watt T-5s and 3X 250 watt HQIs.
 
.My fixture has 8X 54 watt T-5s and 3X 250 watt HQIs.
Click to expand...
Maybe you want to check that again before you buy new bulbs. I believe you have 8 39w 36" T5 bulbs, not 8 54w 48" bulbs. ;)
 
Someone at another forum is selling a 72" fixture with 3x150W HQI + Compact Fluorescent for about $500. I searched it and it's cost around $900-$1100 new. The HQIs are 6 months old and the Compact Fluorescent are 1 year old. Do you think it worth it?
 
150w is somewhat weak for the depth of a 125. You would just have to watch where you placed higher light demanding corals. Other than that, it would work fine.
 
ccCapt said:
Maybe you want to check that again before you buy new bulbs. I believe you have 8 39w 36" T5 bulbs, not 8 54w 48" bulbs. ;)
Click to expand...

Good thing I WASNT buying bulbs yet :D or I'd been screwed.
It is 8X 39 watters.But I also have a set of Nova Extremes that has 8X 54 watts:D

BTW Capt.Have you heard of anybody running those new 14000K T-5 bulbs? I'd like to know what they look like compared to the 14K Pheonix HQIs.
 
The 125 I have is even shorter than the 72 I currently have. The 125 is 72 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 23 3/8 and my 72 bow is almost 27" tall.
 
I think you could still get by with a good set of T-5s with IRs.
But I will say this.I love how MH give that shimmer.I'm actually starting to think that the even the corals like the shimmer.
 
Just had another thought, instead of 3x150w of 10,000K, use 3x150w of 15,000K to get a little bluer and change half of the actinic blue to 10,000K. Would that gives a little more light?
 
You're on the right track... I just recently went through tons of research and talking to people about my new setup and I went with 3 - 250 watt (1450K) HQIs, and 4X 36" Actinics..

I thought about swapping two of the tinics for 10k whites.

But I will say this... DEAR GOD what a difference the HQI Halides have made on my setup. I cant wait to get home just so I can see them!
 
Wes888 said:
Just had another thought, instead of 3x150w of 10,000K, use 3x150w of 15,000K to get a little bluer and change half of the actinic blue to 10,000K. Would that gives a little more light?
Click to expand...

You could do that.
I'm thinking about switching out my T-5 actinics for the T-5 14K bulbs when it comes time.
 
okay...

everyone talks about

150w 200w 20-40K

what does all that mean. ive been looking for a definition but i cant find it. i understand w is watts and K is kelvin
but what does the higher K value give
i understand watts is brightness

colors of light? blue+/ aquablue/ white? what does all that do?
heights of lights? why does that matter?

T5? MH? whats the difference if all the styles if lighting if they all do the same thing?
 
MH are metal halide
T5 are a type of flourecent

Both are really good at lighting the tanks. If you have a large or deep tank, it is recomended that you go with the MH since the light penetrates the water deeper than T5's do.

The Kelvin rating of a bulb is the color. This is mostly a personal prefferance to get the best growth/color from your corals. The higher the rating the blue-er the color and the more the colors will pop out.

:question:I beleive that the lower ratings, the faster corals will grow, please someone expand further on this:question:

Actinics are flourecent tubes usually used to suppliment color. Used to make the colors really pop out.

T5 fixtures tend to be a little less expensive to buy compared to the MH's but MH's give a nice shimmery effect that can really enhance the look af the tank.

Brian
 
Last edited:
Sorry about missing the height.

The brightness of the light decreases exponentially from the source. So you have to find out how close you can put the lights without causing either heating problems or causing an unsafe situation where the lights will get water splashed on them

Brian
 

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