Tek T5 or MH?

MH will give over WAYYYYYYYYYY more shimmer then t5s will......its the difference between night and day with the shimmer effect between MH and t5, with MH and a power head pointed at the surface the shimmer effect is insane

 

And thats what I said . . .

You can get a shimmer with T5's but not as much with halides. You said T5's will not give you any shimmer which is wrong.

~Will.

 

Also the Blue background will show about 100X more shimmer than Black.

MH vs. T5 is a popular argument around here. Higher wattage MH lamps give more PAR deeper. T5s produce less heat less energy.
I've never used T5 but understand they can be about as good in some tanks for growth.
Personally I'll stick with MH... Not many professional aquaculture facilities using T5 to grow corals. It's a crisp clean look.

 

ive never seen a tank in person with t5s that has the shimmer unless it has some sort of LED supplement

 

Gas bulbs need special equipment to start and run them. Helps prevent them from flickering.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-lighting-ballast.htm

 

Another MH/T5 debate eh??

In regards to a few of your questions...
I would honestly say you will not have shimmer, at least in the way MH provides with T5... You heard it the T5 Doc saying it...

In regards to wattage, corals and critters have no concern of wattage, only your electric company and your pocketbook do. You typically will draw more wattage with MH and will lose more wattage with MH due to many factors including inefficiency of ballasts and heat.

I am a T5 guy, as you all know from reading my posts. You will get more bang for you buck with a good T5 setup and lamps than with MH...IMO at least.

I can tell you reason after reason to go one way or the other or you can read the numerous threads on this subject already. What I would like to point out is the guys that swing for T5 typically come to the plate with good rebutals and valid points why T5 is as good or better to MH.
All I hear from most MH guys is 'DUDE, the shimmer rocks!' Or 'MH is just BETTER.' Without much valid points or tangible evidence.

Original poster the decision is yours just do your research and weigh the pros and cons.

Happy lighting!!

 

Well at least we agree on one thing the whole no shimmer effect with T5s lol

 

I'm not debating because I have no experience with T5 but I know the major aquaculture facilities want their corals to look the best for shipment and use MH bulbs.
These are the kind of quotes you will see on major coral sellers websites : (for Acros)
The ideal conditions for the Acropora coral is an established reef aquarium with bright lighting provided by preferably intense metal halides. They can also thrive under multiple T-5 or compact fluorescents if placed high in the aquarium. Under the right conditions, the growth rate of the Acropora coral is much more rapid than most of the other corals found in an established reef aquarium.

 

Gotta love Dr. Fragenstein!;D I'm also a T5 guy who lives in South Florida. If you do not EVER intend to use a chiller I would say you could run Metal Halides about four hours a day. You could mix it up with T5's but then you would be running over budget.
One other thing to consider is your lighting time schedule. I have T5's 8 wide in my 72Lx24Dx29H 210g. I also have moonlights. I have a fuge that has a light that I plugged into my moonlight timer. My T5's have three cords to separate dawn/dusk from daylights and moonlights. You need a dual timer to set it up but this works great for me.
A 75 gal is a nice tank and 6 wide T5's will be fine. Now the price tag. I've gotten lots of noise about getting my lights on ebay as some think it's garbage etc. I have yet to have a problem, I bought them from buildyouraquarium.com Do you have a canopy or not? If you have a canopy get retrofit kits. If you don't then the one your looking at will be fine.
Now you might ask why moonlights? Because:
1. The fish like them;D Maybe?
2. Little fish and newcomers can see predators that might eat them
3. You can enjoy your tank 24 hours a day.
4. Low wattage use and I'm serious about 1 and 2.
Here's some pics of my lights and tank.

 

I run my MH some times for 10 hours a day with no heat problem. If you have a sump and some fans your fine.......fans pulling air out of the area with the MH and a fan over the sump and ur good to go