Metal Halide Questions VS. T5
 

So I'm in the midst of setting up my custom 60 gallon tank (36"L x 24"D x 18"H) and I plan to do mostly sps and some Zoa's as well. Now my biggest issue is deciding on a light that will suite my needs. My first option is T5 and I would do an 8 bulb unit. My next option would be MH but I am curious as to what I would use for MH. Would I use 1-150w, 2-150w bulbs with t5 supplementation or like 1-250w or or 2-250w? I am looking to hang the unit atleast 6"-8" to help expel heat and so I don't get burned for maintenance. I was leaning towards the single 250w or double 150w if that would be enough light for my tank?
Thanks in advance for your help.

If T5 and MH are the only options your considering, then I would go with T5......at 18" deep 8 bulbs of T5 will give you enough light to do whatever you want as far as corals go and less issues with heat..........and more options for color........only downfall is the $200 bulb swaps:wink:

I think a lower Kelvin 250w bulb may be overkill at 18"... or at least not NEEDED. I'd never do a single mh over 36" at any rate so I'd do 2 x 150w 14k or 2 x 250w 20k. I think a 36" T5 on either side of the mh's would be nice too so you can view the tank longer than the period of your mh's.

8 T5 bulbs on their own would work very well too.

250w gear is much more versatile as it can be carried over to your next upgrade...

I think it depends on were you plan to put the corals... if you wanted to do a full top to bottom SPS stock like I did on my 90g I would do 2x250 w/ T5 supplemental to get good light to the bottom. But then again thats around 10 watts/g which is fairly high... If you did 2x150 w/ T5 and kept the SPS to the top and zoos and others on the lower half you would be able to manage that

I like the fact with t5 you get the colour variation but I am still keeping my options open as too t5, I would have liked to go with led but I just bought a new tv and I'll have to put off the led project till then. The plan is to eventually upgrade to led so this light will be temperary for now. If I was to choice MH I would like to use the 14k phoenix bulb(s), if that makes a difference. Also there will be 4 t5 two on each side of the MH. What would be the big disadvantage of one 250w over 36" length? If I decided with 2-150w halides would that not be able to grow sps anywhere in the tank?

I think the 2x150w would be fine.

A single 250 is ok but you'll find the stuff right under it will do far better than the rest (sps) and then the stuff on the edges is going to get less and less light. That's what I found with one light (and what I'm finding looking at my tank front-to-back as the stuff up top grows bigger.

As fishy said, the 8bulb T5 on an 18" high tank will be more than enough to grow pretty much anything. The halide option is OK too if you can look past the heat issue. Another thing to consider is the fact that the halides will shimmer your tank, where as the T5s will not. To get shimmer while using T5's you'd have to supplement with LEDs.

I personally prefer a combination of T5s with Halides. Halides to grow corals and for the shimmer effect, and t5s for supplementation and colour adjustment.

T5s will also light the sides of the coral a bit better.

very true. T5s are a much more enveloping light where Halides is more directional much like the sun.

^^^

willing to do a test, put the same frag in each tank at the same depth/ distance from the light in each of your tanks?