t5 vs MH vs t5/MH combo

[ganjero]

I have all the equipment to do one of the following setups on my 100g tank (60"x18"x20"H) with SPS and clams:

1. 6 48" T5HO overdriven by ice cap ballast wit SLR reflectors
2. 2 MH SE 250w on ReefOptix 1 pendants with ic ballast
3. 2 48" T5HO over driven by IC ballast, maybe 2 aquablue or 2 actinics, and the 2 MH SE 250 w on reef optix 1 with ice cap ballast.

What would you guys do? reasons?

I'm leaning towards option #3

I was also thinking in doing the combo, with either a lumenarc mini or a lumenbrite mini but they wont fit what I'm using to support the lights, plus I already have the reefoptix laying around.
Also thought about doing 6 60"T5HO, but I would have to buy reflectors and bulbs, and I already have those one 48"

Thanks

[jimbo045]

I use MHs with a VHO pair. #3

[hahnmeister]

MH +T5s are top in my book, second is all T5s. I would do all T5s over all halide though, unless a huge tank.

For a 100g like yours, I would use dual Icecap 660's to drive 3qty. x 5' bulbs each for 6x100 watt bulbs (a mild overdrive really, normally 5' bulbs are about 92-94 watts at the socket). Tek2 reflectors, and endcaps and you are set. The output will shred many halide systems out there... and for only 600 watts.

[twon8]

id probably go with hahn's suggestion, 18" isn't really wide enough to do a mh/t5 combo unless you want to go de. then i'd go 2x250 pheonix and 4xt5s,

[ganjero]

i would love to go with 5' t5s but like I said before I have 4' reflectors and bulbs that I can use. The 5' I would have to buy reflectors and bulbs.
Do you guys still think that I should go all t5s using the 4' that I have?

[hahnmeister]

If you stagger the bulbs a little (its not that important really, only 6" at the ends... no worse than halide pendants), 4' bulbs should be fine. In that case though, go with 8 bulbs, and IC SLR reflectors which will be 20" wide... so you may have to get a little creative. If you stagger the endcaps, you can overlap them a little, and overlap the IC reflectors (they are actually made for this, and then they go down to 2"-2.25" wide per each reflector. Then fitting them into 18" should be no problem.

[barjam]

The overlap thing doesn't work very well when bulb mounting the reflector although I suspect it works fine hard mounting the reflector.

id probably go with hahn's suggestion, 18" isn't really wide enough to do a mh/t5 combo unless you want to go de. then i'd go 2x250 pheonix and 4xt5s,

That is exactly what I am doing on my 75 (2x54 instead of 4x54). I only have 16 inches to work with on my tank (in wall, header takes up a few inches).

[ganjero]

Originally posted by barjam
The overlap thing doesn't work very well when bulb mounting the reflector although I suspect it works fine hard mounting the reflector.



That is exactly what I am doing on my 75 (2x54 instead of 4x54). I only have 16 inches to work with on my tank (in wall, header takes up a few inches).

That was one of my options, 2 halides and 2 t5 for supplementation

[hahnmeister]

Yeah, for a 18" thick tank like that, perhaps that is the better option. I was thinking, even with 8 of the 4' bulbs, thats still not going to match the output of the 6x5' ones.

These are tricky dimensions it turns out (well, the restrictions on using 5' bulbs doesnt help either).

Dual 250wattDE's then, maybe even lumenmax reflectors then (they are smaller than lumenarcs), and then 2-4 rows of T5s.

Id go with Ushio 14,000Ks or Giesemann 14,500K bulbs for the main light, and then suppliment that with blue+ and actinic bulbs (if only 2 T5 bulbs, just use blue+ bulbs then and skip actinic, it may look nice, but 14,000Ks have loads of actinic in them already). Thats the 'day-blue' option which I find most corals prefer because it is full spectrum, yet with a good amount of blue/actinic.

If you want something bluer than that even, you could go with pheonix bulbs, but then you are starting with an almost monochromatic blue halide almost, so the supplimentation can get complicated. The pheonix lacks daylight all together, so adding a 6500K bulb of some sort is the best thing IMO. But you may not like this look, so instead, a KZ fiji purple or ATI pro color. These bulbs can suppliment just the red, and leave the daylight out of the tank, and with all that blue, these bulbs will just make the tank look more purple in the end. Then, a true actinic bulb, like Giesemann's true actinic 03. The pheonix bulb has alot of blue, but lacks actinic almost all together. If you bring this up, the corals will love it.

[barjam]

Thats the plan with my Pheonix's.... actinic and maybe a daylight depending.

I never got a chance to see a Phoenix in person before buying it so I am worried it will be too blue. If a guy was trying to replicate it's colors with T5 what bulb combo do you think that would be?

I currently run:

Blue Plus
Actinic
Aqua Blue
Blue Plus

Will the phoenix be more or less blue than that?

[DarG]

Ganjero ... do the Combo. I have an 18" wide 90 gallon and use Lumenmax 3 DE reflectors which are a little narrower than the Lumenarcs. I was able to squeeze in a T5 in front and a T5 in back and get the outside of the reflectors just inside the tank rim. They are only for supplemental lighting, for color more than anything, so having them that far outside works out just fine. They work very effectively for color and they light the tank evenly by eye when they are on alone for dusk/dawn. I already owned two Icecap 660 relfectors so I used one of them to overdrive the two T5's and give them a little more punch. With the Reef Optix reflectors you will have a couple more inches to work with as they are narrower than the Lumenmax reflectors.

Everything is mounted on an open aluminum frame/rack as the tank is in-wall. Works great. Best of both worlds. I've had VHO and T5 lighting and I could never go back to T5 only (or any flourescent only lighting). Obviously there is nothing wrong with it and I'm not criticizing T5. To me there is just something about the "crispness" of metal halide lighting and of course the shimmer that T5 can't do. Just my opinion.

[ganjero]

Thanks for the inputs

[hahnmeister]

The pheonix is pretty much the same as an aquablue and blue+, maybe even two blue+ and an aquablue.

[barjam]

That is perfect Hahnmeister, thanks again.