diff. btw. M/H & T5??

I got my T5's from http://www.marinedepot.com for a reasonable price.

4x54 watt SunDial (built in timers!!!!!!!!! and built in moonlights). I have this on my 48 inch long 55gallon.

IMO, the built in moonlights on this light are kind of goofy... they're mounted along the back of the fixture, so they do a descent job of lighting up the back of my tank behind my rock work... yay :

 

T5s are very good in some respects. They are much less expensive then MH, you can have a much broader arrangement of bulbs to give you the look you want, the bulbs are cheaper and last longer and they have a higher PAR output per square in. then MH. But, their biggest drawback is their penetrating power, they are good up to about 18-20in. depending on how many bulbs you have and who you ask. If you have enough T5s, you can keep anything, of course if you have enough of anything you can keep any coral/invert etc. If you want an anemone, A. you should wait until your tank is about 8 months old, and B. they need a lot of light. So keep that in mind.

 

+1


And just my 2 cents, I wouldnt buy used lights. You'll have no idea on the bulb/ballast age, qaulity, etc. They are an expensive investment, but if you are going for a reef, lighting is not the item you want to skimp on.

 

Being my tank is 24 inches deep, then I should be using Mh, and not consider T5's at all. With MH, don't I have to worry about heating the tank to much?

 

24 inches is not exactly too deep for t5's. You will just have to put all the very low light corals on the bottom. Which gives you more room for different type corals. If you have 250w MH over 24 inches, the sand will still be getting a good amount of light. If you have MH's you may have heat issues, they definitely run a lot hotter than t5's.

 

With the MH, I should put in the future plans to buy a chiller then?

 

I have MH so it keeps the tanks warm and chillers they keep it cool, so I can have the heat/ac off when its nice out. saves money on that end of not having to keep house cool. It's 76 right now and I have the windows and doors open. Since I live in Fla. it is warmer a lot more often so it is more efficient for me. We have constant $400 elec bill and we are trying to cut it down.

 

I have a 8 x 54 watt H.O. T5 from buildyouraquarium. I will say that the light itself is great has been running on my 90gal for about 5 months now. No coral yet just live rock(coraline everywhere) so I can't give you the best review, bulbs are nice but I think I will upgrade later. It is true that there is no "shimmer" like MH but the light is very powerfull and no where near as hot. Also really cool 8 led's build in with a dimmer on them.