MH or T5 ho 39w actinic?

have a aquarium with 90g and i want to keep soft coral,polips,zhoantus...

but i have a litlle problem:distance between water surface and place where I could suspend the lamp is 20cm.practically between water surface and the lamp would be a max 10cm. though I want to bring 3x150w metal halide+2 actinic t5 ho 39w.or just bring t5 ho 6x39w actinic?

I wish I would be better advised to make taking into account the short distance between water surface and the lamp.

thank you

 

I assume you are worried about the heat from the Mh lamps? That close, it could be a problem. You could try running two 150s with the T5s and running a fan, but if you spend that money and then the water gets too hot, you will need to buy a chiller which are expensive too. To be safe, I would go with the T5s, but you will need a splash shield too.

 

Based on my limited knowledge of lights, I say get T5s. The metal halides can get really hot and you might have to buy a chiller, which wold be really expensive.

 

If you don't want to do an SPS dominated tank, then go t5ho all the way. T5ho can easily grow sps, but for you t5s will be more tha adequate and cheaper.

 

thank you for help.I saw in some pictures of marine aquariums have lights suspended on those feet that support on the tank and I wonder what distance from water surface is the lamp?

HQI lamps are talking about. lamp cooling as for me not to worry because the lamp do it alone and I can provide a cooling measure. I posted a lamp made by me in section DIY

 

T5s you can have literally right above the surface.

I have mine like maybe 2-3" off the surface.

 

you have a lamp with t5 or mh?

 

Both.

I have 2x 250w of 10000k XM halides on magnetic ballasts, and 2x 80w of ATi Blue + t5ho.

I have run t5s for many years now, even before they were popular here in the US. In Europe, you guys have been running t5ho for longer than here in the US due to its low energy consumption.

Now, if you do go 6x39w of t5ho, make sure to try an array of different bulbs. All actinic will not make a lot of usable light, and would look far too purple.

 

please can you recomandation on me some kind a fluorescent lamp for my tank.

 

get the MH, just get 2x150 or 2x250... 3 MH lights over 36" is too many.

you've got a 90g and it's 36" so that means its a 90 tall which means it's 31" tall... definitely one of the few tanks i would say almost NEEDS a metal halide... few lights even well designed T5's with SLR's will penetrate very well at 31"

in fact i would get the 2x250 so you've got enough penetration...

just my 2 cents.

this forum is very pro t5 and anti MH... so understand that these folks are biased

I ran my MH literally 3" off the water, I now run my t5's 3" off the water... my tank is hotter under the t5's because the fixture is so much larger it traps all the heat in.

something to consider.

oh and I'm getting rid of my t5's as soon as i can to go back to good ol metal halides.

those t5 bulbs are WICKED expensive to replace.... , 2x250w top of the line MH bulbs cost you maybe 120 bucks for 500w output? 6x39 T5HO gonna cost you 150-180 for less than half that output??? ask me which costs more in the long run. and a decent T5 fixture, like one that makes T5's worth getting, IE it has great reflectors and decent bulbs, is also ridiculously expensive...

that's the one thing T5 owners don't tell you, sure you can mix and match all these fancy bulbs, but the SOB's cost you 30 bucks a tube.