T5 or Metal Halide

I was told by someone that a t5 with 4 bulbs was more powerful than a dual 150 watt DE HQI fixture. I have never used t5's. I have a sunpod. What are peoples thoughts? Are the Current's t5 fixtures better than their HQI Fixtures?
Adam

 

Personal preference my friend!

 

it really depends on what you want to keep sps, lps, clams etc, and how deep your tank will be, shallow tank less than 20 inches you can probably get away with t5s, deeper tank go with halides

 

I love the halides as I have great success with all my corals and tridacna Clams!!!

 

MH's will not limit you to any coral.

 

T5ho is good. If you are looking at comparing them. I would say in a shallow type tank like a standard 75 300 watts of t5ho would be better then 300 watts mh. Less heat, and better mix of color, temp of bulbs. I run 312 watts t5ho, and would much rather have those then two 150 watt mh, and you would have to add some actinics with t5 anyway. Those fixtures, mh, are just too expensive. Bulbs are too. I have had much luck with coral from mushrooms to sps. Clams seem to do very well also. I run
actinic
10k
actinic
6700k
actinic
18k

It would be hard to get that mix with a halide fixture. Now t5ho with idividual reflectors is a different story. I would not run more then 4 on a 75 with those. the indiv reflectors add a LOT of light.

 

1 watt of T5HO= 32,000 Lumens
1 watt of MH =20,000 Lumens

Watts mean absolutely nothing when looking at light fixtures. A watt is how electricity is MEASURED, not how intense the light is. Lumens/LUX/PAR is how intensity is measured. If you wanna keep moderate to low light corals such as mushrooms and a few other softies, then you 150w MH's are fine. If you want moderate to high light corals, then you need to step it up to T5HO's or at the very least 250w MHs.

Its comparing apples to oranges.

 

Ok...so I am pretty sure that I could type a long article about the lights....let me try to make it short and sweet.

T-5HO
PROS: Cheaper, No heat problem, Can keep any coral (not super deep tank)
CONS: Um...no ripple effect

MH:
PROS: Can keep any coral, nice ripple effect
CONS: $$$, HOT, need to replace more than T-5

If I am missing anything feel free to add.

 

Thats something I forgot to mention, MH halides bulb need replacing every 6-9 months, where with T5HO's need to start the replacement rotation at 12 months, but are good for 18 months.

 

my tek lite gives a ripple effect, just as a fyi, if you have a really nice array they can do it

indiviual reflectors help a ton on them though some will argue otherwise