need new lights, dont know what to get.

[FireWater]

LED's........Yes I had to say it

Took you long enough.

If you want to run t-5 you should be able to get away with a "QUALITY" 4 bulb system. Look for individual reflectors as a must - they give better output because they direct more of the light downward where you need it.
If you want to look into LED prepare to pay $$$ up front. There are many good points that will equal out over a period of time such as possible energy savings and bulb life (you won't have to change out bulbs every 6 months or year). I purchased one of these from txg8gxp and bought another one from the vendor - http://www.evolutionledlight.com/


There are way too many variables involved - positioning of coral or clams, quality of fixture, and what type you decide on. Also, do you plan on leaving the glass tops on? If you go MH then that could cause some heat issues.

[cbianco]

LED's........Yes I had to say it

T5's........All I have to say is, color!

[Europhyllia]

I have been hooked on the color choices with T5s as well!

Backlit shadowbox only with a 3000K (!) bulb:


All lights on including Actinics, Fiji Purple, GE Daylight, etc.:


The LED people usually only use Cool White, Blue and Royal Blue so it sounds kind of limited (I happen to love that warm glow in the morning before the rest of the lights come on) but LEDs come in many different K ratings of white as well as different colors.

I should have an LED fixture ready with warm whites, neutral whites and royal blues before the end of the year for my seahorse tank.

I really like my ATI T5 fixture over my big reef tank and would have considered T5 again for the seahorse tank but the shape of the tank limits my lighting choices as far as T5 goes (tank is only 18" wide but 25" deep) so the LEDs seemed like a great fit for a narrow, deep tank.

Can't wait to try them out!

[Big_Pun]

ok I've done t5 had a tek fixture, worked fine with SPS for 4-5 months then sps started browning, with my MH I can go over a year with no probs and par readings after a year compared to a new bulb are not that drastic of a difference. yes sps and other high demand coral can be done with t5 just be consistent with bulb changes. changing 4-6 bulbs every six months is expensive. when I can change one mh bulb at $80 a year. and the cheap mh bulbs I'm not sold on or would risk my coral for 60 dollar savings.I run my MH for 13 hours a day with no algae or heat issues my fixture has fans and I have a walmart fan that kicks in at 77 degrees, tank only hits 78 all year.
Gabe had t5s on his show tank and noticed bulbs had to be changed at about 5 months. now with his MH fixture the tank is looking good and bulbs last longer. also talked to other people who have the same prob. now granted these are people who have very light demanding livestock so more bulb changes where needed to stay consistent.
as for heat i would not recommend more than one or two MH under a canopy without some good air movement. but any bulb under a box is going to create heat. if your not going to be running more than 2 mh bulbs electrical use is not a big deal in my opinion.
so in the end make sure you weigh out what your situation is going to be: what coral/livestock do you want, are you going to have a hood, and last how much do you want to spend.
LEDs are cool but i don't think bugs are worked out yet. people always have some kind of problem, controllers or lights going out, lil things really but still down time to fix it.

[Europhyllia]

I think with T5s the type of fixture and cooling provided with it is crucial.
I had a run of the mill T5 fixture and it didn't have any cooling fans in it and the bulbs started changing really fast. It just had some ventilation holes in the fixture and that was supposed to provide the cooling!
I used the same bulbs in the ATI fixture, which has fans in it for cooling and they lasted much longer.
That's not to say that they last forever. Changes are still needed. But my point is don't skimp on the fixture because you'll be paying it in bulbs...

[tonyydeee]

Thank you everyone for your input / help

[FireWater]

So, did we clear it all up for you? LOL

Lighting is kind of like asking what brand of salt to use. There are way too many variables and preferences.....good luck and keep us posted or ask some more questions.

[kkiel02]

Lights- MH
Salt- Reef Crystals or Red Sea Coral Pro

Call me old school. I have t5s over my 125 now and wish I had done mh, I miss the growth. Although if your corals are already grown out you can make your corals pop nicely with the bulb selection t5 have. I havent done leds so cant speak for them. I do plan on trying them in the future though.

[GsXtC_21]

In case you check this thread again b/c I was contemplating the same thing not too long ago, I run an 8 bulb t5 fixture on my 72g bowfront and have had 2 thriving clams on my sandbed for about 3 months now...