T5 or Metal Halide ?

[Captain Telecredible]

Hi Guys deciding on whether to use ATI T5 or MH ? Dont know which one to choose ? heard alot about T5 is getting more and more popular these
days, thus bit confusing why is it better than metal halide.
Cheers

[Shadow]

how deep or tall is your tank? if 2ft or deeper and you plan to plant foreground plant like HC, then MH is better

[Aquaculture]

how deep or tall is your tank? if 2ft or deeper and you plan to plant foreground plant like HC, then MH is better

I second that. Another consideration is the marriage of MH and chiller.

[Captain Telecredible]

Yeah Thats why saw from the net
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...?article_id=75
saying that Metal Halide needs chiller but lots of people are telling me that metal hailde is very good, but T5 is also hot right ? chiller might also be needed. Btw my tank is going to be a 4ft tank. and MH is more like enhance the lighitng og one particular location only.

[AquaObsession]

No, fan will do the job, on a 4 feet you need 2*150watts if depth is about 2 feet

[Captain Telecredible]

Ermm... how about a 4/54 watts T5 lighiting ? Cause thinking to use ATI T5 ? Not sure about the product.

[Shadow]

I'm using MH with fans, not that bad temp maintain around 26-27C. MH mounted around 30cm from water surface. My tank is 3ftx1.5ftx1.5ft with one 150W MH.

[Captain Telecredible]

But Metal Halide use alot of electricity right ? Is T5 or MH more of saving electricity?
Thanks for the help !
Cheers

[Shadow]

as long as the same wattage it should be the same, minus the ballast efficiency.

[Captain Telecredible]

But why is T5 better than MH ? Even though I choose T5 I will like to understand deeper, and even though they have the same lighting effects ?

[benetay]

The intensity is different. The sun at 9am & the sun at 2pm has different intensity. MH gives very good penetration effect a little better comparing to T5. I think MH heats the surrounding room more then the water. MH gives open concept tank a lot of space to work with whereas by using light set, you'll have to shift the light set to do all your maintenance.

I think IMO, both are equally good with pros & cons of both.

Cheers!

[Captain Telecredible]

alright then, thanks for that, considering using ATI T5 seriously Btw, MH is also very expensive, all $1000 +++ very expensive indeed ! and also what is the operating cost of a 300 watts lighting on 10 hours a day ? Thanks
Cheers

[benetay]

I think for cost it will be quite similar 4 x 54 = 216watts , 150 x 2 = 300w , 75 x 3 =225w

Cost is dependable on the wattage you use(in general). So it's really what you need. If you need 200 watts then use 4 x 54, if need 300 then use 150 x 2. Even if you use 6 x 54 = 324w it's 24watts more expensive then a 2 x 150watts.

There are cheaper MH around.

Cheers!

[blue33]

You can choose those MH with T5(at the side) together, as MH may not cover the whole area and T5 assist that miss out area(we called death spot), is quite common nowadays.

[Shadow]

alright then, thanks for that, considering using ATI T5 seriously Btw, MH is also very expensive, all $1000 +++ very expensive indeed ! and also what is the operating cost of a 300 watts lighting on 10 hours a day ? Thanks
Cheers

MH not really that expensive, check out the link below

http://www.viclite.com/aqlight.htm

[Captain Telecredible]

Thanks for that great link there, maybe metal halide is better but i feel that metal halide gives out more raditaion heat and it also warms the surrounding too, and thats a point i try to avoid. But I will seriously consider Metal halide
Cheers