150 high tank

[Lazys Coral House]

I say go for the Halides as well. Purchasing a **** ton of t5's can be nice but to replace the bulbs can be ridiculously expensive. 2x250w go with some nice reflectors and a lower kelvin bulb to maximize par rating. However 2x400w metal halides would be better.

 

[Demonic]

Lumenmax Elite's

 

[Phin]

I am running 2 x 400 Metal Halides on my 150 deep. I have a temp swing from about 77 - 80 but mine doesn't have a hood to hold in the heat but is an in wall.

 

[stagcrazy]

marco what happened u dont like the t-5s?

 

[My Coral Reef]

nope am go with mh lights :xd:
yo call me up 305-345-0997

 

[My Coral Reef]

What a better ballasts blue wave,electronic ballast,ice cap,lumatek coralval /?????????

 

[cloakerpoked]

Depends on what bulb you are intending to use.

 

[My Coral Reef]

250 watts Radium 20k if use 400 watts I will need a chiller ???? With a hood???

 

[cloakerpoked]

If you're using a Radium, don't use an e-ballast, stick to an HQI. HQI ballasts have ignitors that assist the ballast in firing the bulb, and even on SE radiums, they need that extra boost to get them fired right. If you don't run them on an HQI, they'll not have the proper output or lifespan. As far as the manufacturer, as PSU pointed out earlier, I'm not entirely sure that it matters. As long as it's put together properly, any ballast should produce close to the same results, and I'm sure if you tested each brand, you'd find variance model to model that usually made each ballast intersect the output of the others. I'm sure there is actual research out there on this topic, so you may want to look that up if you're serious about finding the ballast, but anything else you get on this site is going to be strictly anecdotal...(i.e. I use this and get great results, I switched to this and my colors exploded, etc. etc.)

 

[stagcrazy]

marco if i were u i would stick with the t-5s u will have heat issues if u go mh with the way u are running ur tank now,remeber the key to those beautiful sps tanks u see on here is stability and thats something u dont have right now , imo if u switch lighting now u will make things worse, if i were u i would finish tinkering with the tank get the rock work how u want it and let ur tank mature. u will see the results u want out of the t-5s within given time. remeber this is only my opinion i have 2 tanks one with mh and 1 with t-5s the more u mess with the tank the less u will see the results u want. both lighting systems are fairly equal imo.

 

[amay121]

Go with what you can afford. Both systems will give you great light.

 

[ReefGeezer]

No mention of LED? I have metal halide and T5s and they work great. However, my next light will be LED. Low power consumption, less heat, same or better PAR/PUR, kick-butt CRI, etc. AND less expensive in the long run also.

 

[cloakerpoked]

No mention of LED? I have metal halide and T5s and they work great. However, my next light will be LED. Low power consumption, less heat, same or better PAR/PUR, kick-butt CRI, etc. AND less expensive in the long run also.

Spectral analysis on LED shows that it has incredibly high spikes at the given color temperature, and that is it. T-5 and MH both have several smaller spikes as well. It's unknown as of now whether that super spike is beneficial, harmful, or benign to coral growth. Also, longevity of results at this point aren't out there, so I really wouldn't get an LED until all the kinks are worked out and we're sure that they'll work over a long time. I've heard stories (and it's just that, so don't take this as gospel) that they work very well for a short time (6 months to 1 year) and then results start to go downhill for no directly measurable reason. With the cost getting so much less each year now as the technology evolves, it might not be such a bad thing to wait 3 or 4 years anyway, as the price of fixtures will be over half off of what they currently are, not to mention better.

I didn't know you already had t-5 lighting. I assumed you were just setting up a tank and looking for the best lighting for a given tank. I'd definitely say stick with what you have for now. You won't get results over night from any lighting system you use. Nothing good happens in this hobby quickly (I guess unless you want to count frag shipping :tongue