T5s Against Halides?

[Splatter]

Hey all! I was browsing around Ebay a minute ago looking for some lighting for my new tank - I was searching for T5s or halides.

Anyway, I came across a place which offers a 150W pendant halide with 2x39W t5 neons (228W in total) and also offers a pendant t5 that has 8x39W t5 tubes (312W in total). It's a £10 difference between the two (£150 for the T5s, £160 for the Halides) and I was wondering which would be the better option for me to buy?

I'm going to try and have a full blown reef tank growing SPS corals, the tank is 20 inches deep, 20 inches wide and 40 inches long.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, if the T5 only fixture has individual reflectors for each individual tube, that one would be the best. If not, tbh, the halide option probably still wouldn't be enough for SPS... You'd need at least a 250watter with the dual actinics to get enough light out for most SPS.

 

[Splatter]

Thanks for the reply Ski

I've now dropped the idea of buying either luminary and I'm going to try and build a dual 250W halide system from normal metal halides. Am I right in thinking I'll be okay to buy HID Halides and then re-fit the bulb so that I can get an aquarium spectrum? And I'll also sort out dual actinics with reflectors also

Oh, and the tank used to be for comercial use so it has a bracing bar across the center, it's made of glass so it's definately see through (albiet the layer of dust at the moment ). If I go for a dual halide set up the center bar won't affect the light level, right? ^^

Thanks!

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Yes, you can just buy shop halides and run aquarium bulbs in them. And the center brace shouldn't do anything. I've never had a marine tank with one, but all my large freshwater tanks have the brace and I've never noticed any problems with that.

Ryan

 

[Splatter]

Thanks very much for the help Ryan, you've just saved me alot of money!