HQI vs T5

[bjohanson1234]

There are Power Compact Lights but they are not as bright as the T5's of the same wattage. And are less power efficient. They wont let you keep more light intensive corals.

What kind of corals are you planning on keeping?

Brian

 

[Brian_G]

honestly i would like to get lights that are able to grow just about anything
i have a standard size 75g tank already so 48" across

i have friends into the hobby and we plan on trading and growing as we buy and such so i imagine hard and soft corals of all kinds eventually

 

[bjohanson1234]

Well, I have t5's and never had MH's so I cant suggest any MH fixtures. But I have a 4 bulb 24" 96 watt total above my tank. I would suggest at least an 6 or 8 bulb t5 fixture on yours.

Brian

 

[Brian_G]

i do have a support in the middle so i can use two 24" i think
and you say with 6 bulbs in each one?

 

[bjohanson1234]

The support in the middle isnt really there for supporting lights. It is there for supporting the sides of the tank. Also 1 48" fixture would be cheaper than two 24" fixtures. I only have a 29 gal which is 30 inches long so I went with the 24" t5's

Brian

 

[ggNoRe]

Ideally you probably want to get a combo of M/H's and t5's or M/H's and actinic PC's and possibly even moonlights for aestheitcs. The m/h and t5's are the best type of lights to feed corals with light and have the highest PAR ratings. Par is basically a measurement of how much light/food is being given off and is essential for corals. As far as the kelvin rating lower rating 0-6000 tend to give off a yellow white color 6000-10000 is whiteish and 10-20K is more blue. The lower kelvin tend to give more par but the higher ratings look better. That's why ppl usually go with mh's that are around 10kish and either t5's or pc's that are actinic or 20k. The moonlights are purely for a cool look and do nothing as far as helping growth. This is what I have in mind personally for the 90 gallon I want to get: 48 inch Current USA Outer Orbit 2x150W 10K HQI-MH w/ 2x130W Dual Actinic & 6 Lunar Lights

 

[chez]

Does anyone have LED lights? Thinking about getting them but there very expensive, and I don’t know if they’re proven themselves yet… I had 5 250w MH with 4 96w actinic on my tank before and my tank was extremely hot, my chiller ran non-stop. So I’m looking at LED or T5 to reduce the heat, I was told that you can keep anything you want with just the T5…

 

[daugherty]

leds are still to new but there is some new plasma leds comming out and being tested one led light is like a 400w light

 

[dcantucson]

I had a PFO Solaris LED system for about a year. Ballast went out and the Company went out of business. Best thing really. I replaced it with a Current MH/T5 fixture and the corals grew much faster. I believe that one day they will be great, just not now.

 

[ccCapt]

I had 5 250w MH with 4 96w actinic on my tank before and my tank was extremely hot, my chiller ran non-stop. So I’m looking at LED or T5 to reduce the heat, I was told that you can keep anything you want with just the T5…

What size tank was this that you had 5 250w MH's on? I personally know of 2, 8' long, 500g reef tanks, which are packed full of SPS corals that are light by 3 400w MH bulbs in Lumenarc reflectors. There is no reason at all to have that many bulbs.

Also, depending on the depth of your tank, T5HO's don't penetrate like MH's, so if you have a deep tank you may be limited where you can place some coral.

 

[yote]

I ran 8X 54 watt T-5s over my old 75 and kept SPS in the bottom 1/4 of the tank with no problems.I also thought I never stray away from T-5s.Personally,I think their just as good as MHs.
BUT,Since I got basically the same fixture as Dcan,I dont think I'll ever go back to straight T-5s because I love the shimmer effect and actually think the shimmer helps some of the more light demanding corals.
As far as LED lights go.Not over my tank.I've helped set up a few tanks that used LED fixtures.I didnt like the looks,didnt like the way the corals and rock looked under them.They didnt seem as bright,and didnt seem to bring out the colors.Of course thats just my 2 cents.

 

[chez]

My tank is a 300 gallon 96” long by 30” tall and 25” wide…like I said the corals loved the lighting it was the heat and the electricity bill I didn’t like, it made my 1hp chiller work all day long. So this time I want to cut back on the heat, that’s why I’m looking at either T5 or LEDs.