150 watt MH or 6x18 watt T-5 NEP?

[E.intheC]

I'm looking to upgrade my lighting on my 30 gallon cube tank (about 18-19 inches tall, or so).

Currently I have the 150 MH with the stock bulb. This bulb is about 8 months old, so it only has a few months of life left.

Would you choose a Phoenix 14000K MH bulb, or sell the MH fixture and buy a Nova Extreme Pro 6x18 watt T-5 setup?

I'm looking for growth, but also excellent color.

Thanks!

 

[D1J8Z]

what coral are you housing ?

 

[NYreefNoob]

sell the fixture and buy the t5, i have the t5 on my 24g ap and keep anything sps or lps plus alot less heat and electric

 

[mr_X]

sell the fixture and buy the t5, i have the t5 on my 24g ap and keep anything sps or lps plus alot less heat and electric

108 watts v.s. 150 watts? not much of a savings. change the bulb and save the money you'd have to spend on a new fixture.

the current fixture is not that good anyway. you are better off with a better brand like sunlight supply.

 

[NYreefNoob]

Mr x do you have the current pro 20" 6 bulb fixture ? i have it and had a 150w mh on same tank t5 looks much better and on smaller tank heat is a factor, only down side to this fixture is no one else makes bulbs for it yet

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Ok let me start by saying that I think the phoenix bulb in 150 nor 250 are great bulbs with great color.

With that being said the amount of money I am saving on electricity having switched from the 250w sunpod to the nova extreme t5 light is very nice. I don't have heat problems with my tank anymore and my controller has yet to turn this fixture off yet for heat issues. I do miss the shimmer but everything looks great. They are happy as well.

The nova extreme doesn't have moon lights which being a night owl is very important to me so you will have to buy some if you want them and like rick said nobody else makes light bulbs for it yet but I imagine they are well under way.

I would never have made the switch if I didn't win the light fixture from Nano Reefs. But now I am happy I have!

 

[E.intheC]

Interesting. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'm still trying to figure out the best route to go with this setup..

As for the current fixture; it's on sale right now for about $215

For those of you who switched from a 150 watt MH to the T5 fixture, does the tank appear brighter?

I'm looking for a better "overall spread" look, and I want the colors to pop. The shimmer effect is nice, but it's not a deal breaker. The last half dozen or so tanks I've seen in person with T-5 bulbs have been incredible.

Also, I figure a new bulb will run about 80 or so with shipping, so I'd only need to make up about 150 or so. (And I could do that by selling my Sunpod).

 

[NYreefNoob]

t5

here is mine, covers whole tank with light, sorry for crappy pic's

 

[E.intheC]

That's a really nice tank you have there!

Does the tank appear brighter in person, or is it about that dark?

 

[E.intheC]

In addition; I agree that the Tek fixtures are better made (so are the ATI's which are my dream fixtures) but neither make the 20 inch fixture yet, and are much more $$$

 

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

Normally one of the plus sides to T5 fixtures is the ability to put more bulbs over the tank which means the possibility for more spectrum specific bulbs. The problem with this particular fixture is that Current is the only ones out there making 18" T5s everywhere else 2' is the minimum. I don't know that current is planning on making more bulbs for it or that other companies are planning bulbs for smaller units. I can call around and see what's up with Current and Sunlight Supply so you can make a better decision. I would say that at this moment you might be better off just sticking with the halides and getting a better bulb for the time being and see what comes up down the line.

I've been playing with the idea of starting a home tank again with a T5 unit because if you blend the spectrums right you can get some pretty crazy results colorwise from your corals and fish. On a small tank I would say T5s are better but since you have the halide already and the T5 option you have isn't really a step forward as much as just laterally, I would stick with the halide for now.

If you want to see the difference between stock current bulbs and high end T5s in the same current fixture PM Jawfishjunkie until he posts a before and after picture. His tank looks completely different with the new bulbs, in the best possible sense.

 

[E.intheC]

That theory of better bulbs will also work with the Halide fixture, I imagine.

I also have some NO flourescent bulbs that I can add on..
hmmm

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Like I said if I didn't win the fixture from nano reefs I would still have a 250w sunpod on my tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

i didn't win one i bought one. ive had MH now 250w, but have pretty much always had t5 and my new reef is gonna be t5 also, shimmer never was a seller for me, i didnt have it to start with , ive wrote a few of the companies about bulb's, haven't heard back, most companies would just make a bulb size for a few thousand sell's a year, once more manufactures make a fixture this size, i think more will become available, and no moonlight's do suck. but do believe 2 of these would work and be simple, this is for bren too,
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12110&pcatid=12110

i have one of these and thought of doing 4 or 5 of these, and make a rail, i had the power one with all antic's thought of 1 10k 2 mixed and 2 antic one's

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+18485&pcatid=18485

 

[E.intheC]

I think a light rail of those moonlights will be cool.

It's too bad they won't make more lighting options for those.

Chief, how much "better" is the T-5 setup, since you're still using it?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

For what I am keeping it fits just right.

I added 2 moonlights I got from a member here and everything is great. I also cut out all of my pumps with the exception of the stock return and added a vortech mp20. Electricity wise I would say I am in a much better place.

 

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

E the difference between better bulbs in a T5 fixture and better bulbs in a halide is numbers. There is only one bulb when it comes to halides unless you are using one of those sfiligoi fixtures with the side by side socket and folded reflector. With T5s you can use a different spectrum bulb for each socket. So an 8 bulb fixture can have 8 different spectrums.

 

[mr_X]

Mr x do you have the current pro 20" 6 bulb fixture ? i have it and had a 150w mh on same tank t5 looks much better and on smaller tank heat is a factor, only down side to this fixture is no one else makes bulbs for it yet

no, i do have the 36" fixture though. i truly believe the amount of heat produced from the 6 x 39 watt lamps is not much different than a halide. the difference is the t-5's are encased in a fixture with glass between them and the water, and a fan pushes the heat out the side of the fixture for the most part, instead of right at the water surface.

this debate could go on forever, but for the record, i think the correct metal halide lamp/fixture looks alot better over a tank than t-5's.

i have multiple tanks and utilize t-5's on some and halides on others. :smile:

 

[E.intheC]

My tank's temps aren't raised too high (yet anyway) due to the MH on top.. The tank is in a basement that stays cooler than the outside air though, and it's well ventilated, along with evaporative cooling due to my open top sump. I am not concerned about the moonlighting, as I've never really ran them (even though they've been on most of my lighting fixtures)...

It's too bad (one of) the major benefits of upgrading to a T-5 setup is the choice of a number of different bulb combinations, because that's not really an option right now as there aren't any other manufacturers of that size bulb.

The best lighting I've seen (IMO) was on a tank with an ATI 8 bulb T-5 fixture. It was amazing. (and amazingly expensive.. )

 

[jackson6745]

I've also been playing with the idea of changing my 250w halide to an ATI 4 bulb fixture. Since the fixture is 24" long I am not sure if it would look stupid over a 24gal aquapod. I am also not sure if the 4 bulb is enough....The 6 bulb would probably be better but the price is insane for a small fixture.