The Bottom Line: MH vs. T5 for SPS growth.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the final planning stages of my tank and need to decide on lighting. This will be a mainly SPS ADA 90-P. It's roughly the same dimensions as a standard 40 breeder, so not too deep.

I had my heart set on this Gieseman:

It has 1 250 watt MH and 4 T5s. It's expensive, but will look great hung over my rimless tank. The other option is to get a 6-bulb T5 setup. This would save on initial cost, heat costs, but would be a little more costly for bulb replacement.

What I need to know is how all-T5 setups compare to MH/T5 combos in terms of SPS color and growth. Some claim the color looks better under all T5s and the growth is comparable. I've only ever used MHs, so I can't compare.

Please help me decide; I must choose soon!

 

[mr_X]

im don't know for sure, but i heard the growth is better with halides and the T-5 make them color up better.
that light there is the best of both worlds!

what i can tell you is that i have halides over my display, and t-5's over my frag tank. the corals in my frag tank look alot better than the ones under the halides.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mr_x. I was kinda hoping for a little more input here, but I appreciate your opinion.

Anyway, that's the light I went with. The one above here. 250 MH and 4x24W T5's, so hopefully the best of both worlds.

 

[leftovers]

Thanks Mr_x. I was kinda hoping for a little more input here, but I appreciate your opinion.

Anyway, that's the light I went with. The one above here. 250 MH and 4x24W T5's, so hopefully the best of both worlds.

you will see significant better growth with the de 250 and t5 setup. As bright as T5's are they are still not MH. You also wouldnt get the ripple effect with T5's

I have the equivalent 3x250 with 4x39W T5 from aqua-medic.

Also with the setup you have you typically make the T5's actinic blue for dusk/dawn and to supplement the MH. This broad spectrum of light i have found to be the best for all corals and the tank in general.

 

[kevindub]

I have 54W T5s on my 60 gallon and halides on my 120 gallon. Halides are much brighter to the bottom of the tank. But both tanks grow SPS very well on the top half. Colors are very different in the two tanks for the same frags. For some SPS, I like the colors T5 makes them. For other frags, I like what the halides do.