what give you better growth?

[jerl77]

does t5 or mh lighting give you the best growth?
i had both running t5 noiw i have to say hands down mh gave me alot more growth

 

[CHALICEKEEPER]

I dont have mh but my t5ho 8x54 on a 75g are growing stuff fast

 

[m and m]

I voted T5's, i have used both and i like my results better with my T5's now. I think it was just about the same growth, but what blows MH out of the water is T5 can get this great growth but better color. I feel MH 90% of the time you have to pic better color or better growth. Evon tho i herd amazing things of the reflux and galexy ballist. But i never tried that combo

 

[inactive]

I got 6x54w T5 over my 55 gallon so... yeah

 

[ldf99]

4x54w over a 33gl .Got to love it .

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

I have both and prefer halides.

 

[J&O'sdad]

Never had t5 but I can't imagine better growth than my halides.

 

[acrosps]

I prefer halides 20 k radium

 

[customcolor]

where is the led option?

 

[JNye]

I like both an find its application dependent on which to choose. Growth never comes in to play when deciding because I have not noticed a difference. And I run both lights on shared water.

 

[shapermike]

i have both and I see some sps grow better under MH and some that do better under T-5. I like them both depending on the tank and corals.

zoas and some lps look great under t-5 because of the many different color bulbs you can chose from

IMO SPS look better under radium 20K but if you have good water prams all coral will look good.

 

[Jeff.:P:.]

Ran 2x150w mh 20k radiums for a 10 months, getting much faster growth with 6x39w t5's

 

[VanGogh121]

I used halides for years, I switched over to T5's only a year ago. There is absolutly no comparison, You get more growth a better growth pattern and better color from T5's.

I will never use a Halide again.


:wink:

 

[ca2or]

I voted MH and to be specific DE MH's. I have had what I believe is triple the growth in the last year in comparision to the year before. First year of reefing I had T5's and got what I thought was good growth didn't require me to upgrade tanks or anything but I thought it was good growth. Then I upgraded to MH's after a year under T5's and within 3 months did my first upgrade from a 12g to a 36. 6 months later I had to upgrade again from a 36g to a 72g bowfront. I say had because my 36 had no more rock or sand space for corals. I could have still glued on the walls.....but I am going to be exercising that with the 72.

I think I should be a bit more specific here in saying that I have primarily zoanthids.

 

[Dylan]

I am planning on a Maristar 36" fixture... It's 2x250w metal halides with 2x39w T5s. The T5s are there for color supplementation, but do you guys think that they will help with the growth much?

 

[Acronuts]

I voted mh but mh in 250 wt radiums running on galaxy ballast. I have used vho's,pc's and 175 wt mh and so far what blows all others out of the water in color and growth has been my current combo.

 

[lowbudget]

i would say its a 50/50 seen some really nice growth with t5 and good growth with mh. i guess it depends on what color temp bulb you use.

 

[xrayrider]

I use both together. I use 3 x 250 Radiums with t5 actenic suplimentation. If I had to choose only one, I would choose MH hands down as long as I could use Radiums. Best growth and color of anything I have tried.

 

[ksc]

There is really no answer to this question. Not one poster has mentioned what reflectors they are using, which makes a huge difference in the amount of par reaching the tank. An ATI fixture will "outgrow" an old 250w spider reflector MH setup, and a pair of 250's in a Lumenmax setup will "outgrow" a Current t5 fixture.

 

[Dave@ARA]

There is really no answer to this question. Not one poster has mentioned what reflectors they are using, which makes a huge difference in the amount of par reaching the tank. An ATI fixture will "outgrow" an old 250w spider reflector MH setup, and a pair of 250's in a Lumenmax setup will "outgrow" a Current t5 fixture.

Took the words right out of my mouth ksc,... +1
I'm using t-5s, mh, and LEDs,... a quality t-5 fixture is your best bet for long term success in my opinion.

I bought my first mh fixture in 1979.(I'm an old person, I like to think I don't smell like one yet)-Dave