land_lubber Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 So which one is better Halides or a T5 3ft? or is there any difference? I'm new to the marine hobby so am just finding out before I make a decision on which one to get it/they will be for a 5ft 580ltr tank thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Very dependant on what you want to keep, or are likely to want to keep in the future. Most of us have started on one type of lighting (you can switch lighting for a number of things ), and upgraded later as we change our livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Well I want to end up keeping soft corals and fish as well as hard coral so I thought I'd do it once and get all the proper stuff now on yeah the T5 has 4 tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Some people have kept SPS (hard) corals with T5s, quite successfully, but IMO Metal halides are the best option for the long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Put up 2 Luminarcs & save swapping lights later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Put up 2 Luminarcs & save swapping lights later What do those look like and how much do they cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 have PM'd you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 Put up 2 Luminarcs & save swapping lights later im saying this from experience - if you're seriously going sps later, save yourself money get halides with decent reflectors now! most sps need hard core light and if you want colour, decent lighting will help considerably. other option is combo of halide + t5, seems to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 you could just get t5s now, then use them later when you upgrade to MH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 It all depend what you are going to keep. Generally 150/250w halides are more than enough. Most european hobbyist are starting to use only t5s as you can keep all corals under this light. T5s gives a more even lighting vs metal halide which is bright under the halide however light drops quite a lot once you move away from the centre. only thing i dont like about t5s is that you dont get glitter lines in the water. It can come down to moneys as good looking lights cost money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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