same old T5's or MH

Im getting ready to fork out the money for the lights on the new tank. The tank dimensions are 72X30X25. Because its relatively shallow, Im thinking maybe 3x 250W 14000 MH, and a 2 X36" T5HO front and back. Im not really sure though. Anybody have any ideas on lighting a 72 X30?

grateful for any help.

 

Think about the type of corals you plan on keeping before coming up with the answer to your question...also the glimmer lines associated with the halide point source lighting(do you care about the realistic shimmer lines accompanying halides)?
Personally, I love halides and have them on my 125gallon reef tank!

 

CR brought up a good point. Depnding on what corals you plan to have dictates what kind of lighting you'll need to buy. If you're going sps, then go with the 3x250w, if you're going lps and softies, 3x175w. A 25" deep tank is too deep for T5's. T5's are great for 20"s or less.

 

yeah going with the LPS. I have a few in my 95 it is 24 tall, and with T5s works out well for softies on the sand. So is there any benifit to MH or HQI?
or is that down to preferance at that point?

 

Metal halides and HQI are one in the same just a different type of bulb! A DE HQI bulb is better than a mogul style screw in halide bulb imo!
LPS' don't require as much lighting as their SPS cousins! However, you will be happier with the stronger lighting and the fluctuation that you have with stronger lighting!

 

If you decide to go with mh's... The price difference between 175 and the 250 is not that much. Plus there is a larger selection of bulbs for the 250's vs the 175's. And if you put them in an adjustable canopy you can raise or lower them to accommodate your corals.
Jim

 

You cannot say HQI's are better then mogul MH's(SE) because you also have the HPS MH's which are mogul based, and they are far superior to HQI. They are making HPS for reef tanks. Its funny how everything for reef tanks blends in from greenhouse's. Thats another reason people use greenhouse's for coral production.

 

DE HQI halide bulbs are better than Mogul based lights in that HQI bulbs use less electricity, and provide a much stronger lighting wattage. A 250watt DE HQI bulb will provide just short of a 400watt mogul style bulb! HQI bulb's provide roughly 140% more light, had a much lower drop in intensity with distance, and provided more intense light over a larger area than by a mogul bulb(study by Harker, 2002c,d) Pg.474 "REEF AQUARIUM"-Delbeek and Sprung!
Also the "hot spots" associated with mogul style bulbs is greater with moguls than DE HQI's(2 with moguls as oppossed with only one evident in HQI's) and the light redirected into the aquarium is greater with HQI's than with the mogul style bulb!

 

Nm...

 

Also if you go with mh I would suggest Lumenarc's for the reflector.