T5 –vs- Halide

[sandfire]

I am planning to upgrade the lighting over my 350 litre aquarium.

Which would be best: several T5's which equal about 150w or a 150w metal halide and maybe 1 x T5 or 2 x T8?

I prefer the lighting affect a metal halide produces, but would the running costs be much higher than several T5's.

The tank is also 2ft deep so would T5's penetrate the depth of the water as efficiently as the Halide?

 

[Themuleous]

I dont think there is really much to chose between T5s and MH for 'smaller' tanks. MH only really comes into its own for very large tanks i.e over say 100g. As you are probably aware MH are spot lights too so you'll need a standard type bulb to spread out the light over the tank.

Unless you really want a MH I would get T5, the light penetration shouldn't be an issue and the multiple tubes means you can mix the types you get to give better colour rendition and also light spectrum.

The other issue with MH is heat, which can be considerable. Thinking on my feet here, there is a 70w MH so two of those and say two T5/8's, one at the front and one at the back might be an option. But that could work out expensive.

Sam