T5 or mh for reef tank?

What if I use the 2 36" 4 bulb t5 fixtures, but replace the ballasts with icecaps to overdrive the bulbs? Would this give me enough light?

 

Probably, but where are you going to get icecaps now?

 

in my experience metal halides and t5's both outperform led's, if you have a small tank under 20 inches, then led's are a great idea for growing anything. but they dont penetrate as good as halides or t5's so in deeper tanks you best with either of those. t5's and halides are pretty much equal in light output so either would be fine.

 

t5 is only good to 20-24" in depth. Mh go up to 32" in depth.

 

I switched from MH to T5's a few years ago. I don't have a fancy fixtures, I'm running 3xWorkHorse5 ballasts with one sheet of polished aluminum bent to form individual reflectors over each bulb. However, I do use good bulbs (ATI, UVL and KC) and this does the job for the corals I keep. I did miss the shimmer of MH initially, however when I weigh that against the cost of MH the decision was easy.....I got rid of my chiller, T5 bulbs last longer, a wider variety of bulbs/colors to choose from, cooler tank. If you really need the shimmer, you could supplement a few spot LEDs like BoostLED PAR30 bulbs.

Depending on the corals you plan to keep, a tank being tha wide I would recommend at last 6 T5 bulbs across the top if you plan to do more SPS, you may even need to increas that to 8 bulbs, front to back. All depends on the type of corals you plan to keep.

 

well it all depends on the fixture and the lights, some t5 fixtures have enough bulbs to equal halide.

 

I do prefer MH lights as you don't really have to replace the bulbs (the annual replacement is a myth if you purchase quality bulbs), if LED isn't an option for you. MH is also more efficient as long as you can air cool them and avoid chiller usage.

 

Quality T5HO fixture and bulb configuration have penetration to 30". 250W MH penetrate to 24" and 400W MH penetrate to 36".

 

You could always go big. 1000W Radiums are good up to 60" depths. ;D;D;D;D;D;D

 

Why not supplement MH w/ T5?