MH or T5s?

The difference is in Kelvin ratings (color temperature). Most off the shelf bulbs are around 5K which is very good at growing algae. Reef lighting ranges from 8-20K. Much much different.

Not to mention power ratings and chemical comps inside the bulbs.

 

Thanks

 

T5 would be fine for that.. You could put an LED lamp in there to get the bright/shimmer that Halides put off. Might even want to look into LED as the main lights.

 

?? Where did this number come from?

I bet overdriven T5 with Aquactinics's SLRs could shoot PAR past 28" no doubt.. MH the thing is the sheer wattage drawn. It can be tough to cram a similar wattage of T5 over a tank as MH... Width of tank is a big limiter... For example you could cram 7x48" lamps over that tank... Even OD to 80watts 7 lamps would be putting 560 watts into the tank.. Heck 2 x250w is already there plus most would do 2x54w T5 supplementals for a total of 608 watts... Doesn't seem like much but that is only if you OD them which most people do not. Standard driven lamps would only be cutting 378watts.. See what I mean? I bet though if you did PAR tests on both scenarios the outcome would be very similar.

You can easily go both ways with this one... And as for LED, heck some of Aquaillumination's numbers are competing with 400w MHs...

BUT a 48" unit is like $3000... BUT the features on it is nuts, light starts out at 0% only to creep up to 100% then back to 0% You can essentially dial in any spectrum... Generate lunar cycles..Heck if I had the $$ my 180 would be LED 8)