Switching from MH to T5?
 

I've been thinking of switching over to HO T5 from my MH set up. Currently I have 2 pendant style 250 watt MH lights. The T5 setup I would switch would be 48in long (tank is 60in) and six 54 watt bulbs. I would change two of them to blue or purple. My tank is a mixed reef, has anyone switched over to T5 for MH? And what was your experience like? Any info on T5's with a mixed reef would be great.

Thanks

If you do make the switch, let me know, cuz I may be interested in your MH's. :razz:

Am I remembering correctly, your tank is 30" deep?

Hi Doug,

Yes that's right the tank is 30 inches deep. At the moment the SPS that I have is placed higher up and is growing pretty good. Anemone's and LPS are lower down.

Thats a pretty deep tank for T5s. Not sure what the par readings are with T5s on a 30" deep tank, but if it were me ,I would go with a 8(or more) bulb light. Why are you wanting to switch? Your canopy is big enough that you could easily retrofit in some T5s to get the color your looking for.

i switched from 2x 150w mh to a 8 bulb t5 tek light on my coral tank wich is 28" deep i noticed a huge difference in brightness but im not shure if the jump in par was quite as dramatic since i havnt noticed and difference in my corals really,im thinking of eventually switching to 3x250w with some t5 aninics when i have the extra money since i miss the rippiling look already

Well I was thinking of switching to the T5's to even out the light distribution over the tank. With the MH pendents I have the middle gets less light. I also wanted to use less energy and reduce the amount of heat going into the tank.

There was a poll a bit back (here), might have some helpful comments

Mike, I haven't ever actually used MH, but I do currently have an 8-bulb Tek unit over my 3-foot tank. I love it! I'm keeping soft corals, LPS, SPS, a Gigantea anemone and a clam...and all seem to be quite healthy and happy. You're free to come over and see if you want. I'm using a mixture of bulbs and really love the colours.

how many watts is a 8 tube tek in total, compared to your 500W now?
thats how much power it uses doesnt matter that its MH, incandescent or T5.
432 is a 8 bulb tek if i remember correctly, so thats not much savings in electrical energy, probably wont pay for the upgrade costs for at least a number of years.
But i would go with what you want your tank to look like, i personaly love the shimmer for MH and would never go with anything else, I also like that there are darker parts to put lower light coral in to give more contrast in my tank. But it sounds like you want even consistant lighting, so go with the tek its your money spend it how you want :)