MH vs T5

I just thought that I would ask the question on here.  Im sure that it has been asked a million times so I will make it a million and one.  I have T5's on my tank now but I have been running thoughs of putting MH on it.  What are some of the good things about it and what are some of the bad.  On a 90gal tank with MH will I have to run a chiller durning the summer?  What has worked for you that have them to keep your tank temp just right?  How often do you have to change out the bulbs on MH?  What color do most of you like the best 10K, 14K, 20K?  Sorry about asking everyone this but I have been playing with the idea for the last month or so and I cant make up my mind on what I want to do.  So I thought that I would pick all of your brains on this.  Also could you please give me your pro's and con's about them.  Like problems you have had with them and things like that.  Thanks for helping me so I can make up my mind on this.

T5`s are good lighting ... however I am a Halide fan! .. I love them .. we run 2 250 watt MH over a 60 gallon and its fine .. we do have to run a small fan over the sump in the summer but no big deal ... I also run 2 250 watt over a 140 gallon that has the same foot print as a 120 but deeper .. and it seems to have more heating issues than the 60 gallon tank .. but as long as our fan is on over the sump its great ..

Edited by thebutler4 - October 25 2008 at 11:05pm

I have been planning my 90 for over a year now. I have flip flopped back and forth between this same question. I am going to put T5's over my tank. The most beautiful tank I have seen is all T5's on it. The only plus I see in MH is the "shimmer" effect. They run extremely hot and you can "sunburn" corals if you aren't careful. Plus the fixture I wanted with MH is two times that of the T5 one I will be getting. I am a T5 supporter myself but don't think you can go wrong with either one. Is the "shimmer" worth it to you? I don't see any other advantage unless your tank is 30" deep or more.

On my "temporary" tank (which is a 55g), i run 2 x 250w MH with 2 x 54w T5HO's and the tank is doing great.  Its the same setup I had for my 120. The only thing I different is I limit the MH's to 4 hours a day.  The MH ads the shimmer effect that I love, while the T5's help make the colors "pop".

freetibet wrote: less money to run..

how many watts are you running over your tank? .. and how large is your tank?

here is the thing ... you are running 6 39 watt T5`s at 234 watts .. when you can run 1 175 watt MH to do the same thing ... and have room at add actinics for the color.

Also .. There was a discussion here a while back ... t5`s and VHO`s put out just as much heat as a halide does .. if you take your T5 .. and squash it down to the size of a MH bulb .. its going to get just as hot ...

dont get me wrong .. I like the look of T5 tanks .. but your argument has a few holes  in it ..


Edited by thebutler4 - October 26 2008 at 1:56pm

I have read that about T5's running the same temp and MH but the surface area is just larger for it to be over a larger area. 

What about color of bulbs Im thinking something in the middle like the 14K  what is everyone else running and why.

Well I ended up ordering up a 2X250w HQI unit with 4 T5's for the Antinics.  The MH bulbs are 14K so it should have some nice color to it.  I cant wait untill it gets here so I get it on my tank.  Thanks for all the input from everyone.  If I dont like it then I can sale it and put my T5's that I have on my tank now back on.  I will post some pictures of before and after when I get it on.