T5 for a 27 inch deep tank

Oh I was referring to the title

As more people experiment with other forms and the world goes "greener" the energy hogging MHs will be phased out.

The SHO CFs are already putting out the equivelent 400w of light but only drawing 100w.... It would be stupid to run 750w of MH over a 6' tank when they could run 300w and get more output... Or look at LED... Hell my 640w of T5 has pretty much the same PAR numbers as tanks with 100+ more watts than mine.... I save money every month and get just as good growth and color...If I want glitter I'll toss an LED strip on...

 

This may be true but MH will never be out of the hobby, they are much to proven work. I dont see that happening any time soon.

 

Thats what they said about air stone driven skimmers

Sorry to thread jack Original poster...

 

ok we got 750 watts of mh and then 640 watts t5 on a 6 foot tank so it would then be stupid to run either of them if you could only do it with 300 watts of sho cf that means they will both will be phased out in the future correct

 

This is defintely a possibility... BUT with T5 technology still growing and MH topped out T5s will still have a run for awhile yet, at least thats what most in the lighting biz think.

 

+1000.

 

The only people who complain about T5Ho's are people who have never ran them.

IMO, if you have never used T5HO's, then you shouldnt comment about them.

 

I agree with the doc...I've heard many aquarists say that MH lighting will soon be out of style. I personally love T5's, there's more versatility IMO. I think you should be ok!!

 

Why will it go out of style? The bulb choices available for MH provides just as much versatility, if not more, than t5's...

plus the light from fluorescents looks diffuse... it doesn't have that same crisp look to it... no matter how you slice it...

plus no ripple effect (which maybe you don't like, i can understand that, personal preference)

there is just that intangible quality to MH that separates it, sure t5's give you great par and are pretty comparable on paper... but really i dont see any comparison.

t5's are the next best thing mind you... but i just think about how expensive most of these t5 fixtures are and how once you get into the really high wattages it's actually less expensive to go MH and the fixtures themselves are much smaller and so you have more room around the canopy for customization as well.

better reflectors... and you can get a more diverse spread of light so you have darker spots and lighter spots... and the higher wattages are definitely more efficient.

oh and the penetration of MH's for tanks over 18" deep... there are just so many benefits i don't see what the benefits of T5's are OVER mh... they really aren't cheaper except in small low wattage fixtures...

 

We still don't know what the OP is planning to grow in this tank.