# Metal Halide or T5??



## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

Which lighting is best for a standard 75 tank?? And how much light would I need? I am trying to find info but I am getting confused.... I want a bright tank that really shows my fish colors(blue and yellow)

I had heard to get the Halides but have also been told T5 is the way to go........which will give me the best look??


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

T5, they are more energy efficent and run cooler.


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## gnomemagi (Jun 13, 2009)

The above is true.

However, I don't know if its true that T5/Metal Halides "show" fish color better than traditional flourescents. Obviously the higher wattage output is going to make things brighter but I don't know if it brings out colors more - I bought my T5 265 watt fixture specifically for plants, not for seeing fish better.


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## TangSteve (Sep 20, 2009)

MH will give you to closest approximation to seeing fish in natrual light. The issue with this is most of you fish don't live in the top 3' of the lake but much further down.

The deeper you go the less light penetrates with blue being the last light filtered out. Ever wonder why so many Malawi's are blue?

The question is, what are you trying to do?

See in a natrual setting? Go 50/50 actinic/ daylight

Have the brightest tank possible? Halides will do that but on a 75g heat will become an issue, it will scare the **** out of the fish and algae will grow so fast a pleco can't keep up.

Keep plants alive and just have a nice bright tank? Go T5. Nice and bright no heat issues and cheaper to run as the bulbs don't need to be replaced every 6 months like halides.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

yeah there is no nead for halides until you want to grow corals

maybe try compacts too


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

I just want to have my fish look good.... right now, if they go towards the top and I move the light right over them, they look great..... short of that, they look dull.

I have a couple plants but do not want lighting to be based on plants..... I have another tank if I need to move the plants.

I have mostly blue and yellow fish, and I really just want them to pop without me having to chase them with a light to show someone that they are really pretty fish....lol


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Get some HO t5's in the 6500k-6700k range. That is usually considered daylight.


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

How many would you suggest? What type of light fixture?


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## Neogenesis (Jan 4, 2008)

http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48i ... /52203.htm

Pick your bulb temp to your liking and go from there.

Scott


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Neogenesis said:


> http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-4x54W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-Advance-p/52203.htm
> 
> Pick your bulb temp to your liking and go from there.
> 
> Scott


I just got one of those, but the version with timer
old twin tube t8 6500k








the new lights, just the 2 1200k's burning, good bit brighter with just the 2 t5's, This is on a 120, it should really light up a 75 nicely








1200k and actinics








actinics only 








moonlights only









The actinics look pretty cool at night, but thinking about swapping them for some 10,000k's


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

A 70W halide or two with good bulbs would be great I think.
Halides are point sources so you would get a lot of cool shadow effects that you just don't see with T5/T8/PC light because the light emission is distributed across the top of the tank.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

it depends entirely on the situation.

there are a few wrong facts on here.

> T5, they are more energy efficent and run cooler. <

T5's are almost as efficient as metal halides (good quality anyway) the run cooler is also subjective, 400w of T5 will generate as much heat as a 400w MH, however it will be more dispresed, as opposed to concentrated in one spot.

with regard efficiency, talking lumens per watt
HID (metal halide, high pressure sodium) 90-150lpw
Fluorescents T8 80-100lpw
T5 70-100lpw (however note due to thinner design less light is lost to "restrike" as well as increased power usage meaning more light from comparably sized bulbs)
LED 10-150lpw (varies dramatically, top end LEDs produce a fantastic amount of light per watt, and with correct choice of lensing can light deep tanks in a similar manner to large MH, however they need to be kept in large arrays in order to light an entire tank, energy efficiency will be similar to MH, however they can be chosen for specific wave-lengths, so the PAR (photosynthetically available radiation) can be much higher with LEDs, making them possibly more efficient in that less energy is wasted on "non essential" wavelenghts

and just to throw a nice experimental light that may exceed LEDs for aquarium usage at some point.
plasma light bulb. link which currently seems to offer 140lpw, but this will surely increase, and essentially acts as a small star, resulting in lots of wavelength for photosynthetic reaction.


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