T5 or MH? 120g

butters

butters

Member
T5 or MH? 120g
im looking at the aquatinics consellation/solar flare fixture
OR
the Current Usa outer orbit, 2x 250w(or even 150)/T5 combo hood.
both are about the same price, the Dr's are having a sale on the outer orbit fixture.
i like the outer orbit fixure because it has built in timers and moon lights. and there arnt many options for T5 fixtures.
its a 48x24x25 AGA 120g tank.
corals:
kenya tree
colt coral
GBTA
paly
leather
GSP
xenia
mushrooms
zoo's
i dont plan on SPS, but ya never know what cool things you can find.
but i would like a clam.
what would be best route?
will the MH need a chiller? how much do they jack up the electric bill?
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
The Constelation would use around 420 watts of power. the halide fixture will use over 600. Really come down to which type of lighting you like better.
 
butters

butters

Member
i only have experiance with PC lights, so this is all new.
i like they way the tanks look with the VERY white light, i think thats MH right?
but i also have to think about my parents electric bill....but ill prolly end up giving them $30 a month lol oh well
im leaning toward MH beacuse of the fixture, i like what it comes with.
so what watt bulbs should i get with the corals i have/want, and still be able to have SPS if i wanna in the future? id guess 250? how bad will this affect the low light corals?
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
T5's OWN halides when it comes to variety of looks you can get.
For a bright white halide it is going to depend on the fixture. If it has good fluorescent supplimentation then 10K halides. If the supplimentation is weak something like Phoesnix 14K's are good. They are slightly blue and cause colors to pop pretty good.
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
With a 2' deep and 2' wide tank, Id go with the MHs. Plus, the shimmer effect looks much more natural like when diving a real reef.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
A lot of people are able to use fans to keep the temp in check. If you house has AC I would take a shot at the fans. If not your probably going to at least need a chiller in the summer.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by butters
so im going to need a chiller if i go the MH route?
the light will not be in a canopy or anything.
With (2) 250w halides on 120 gallons, you probably will be okay without a chiller provided you encourage evaporation as described by others here, and if you don't let the room the tank is in get too warm. If you keep your AC on 80 in the summer, you will have a hard time controlling the temperature.
But I will put out my usual (though on this board unpopular) comment that you should heavily consider the value of the livestock in a tank this size. You can easily put several (or many) thousands worth of livestock into it. If your home AC were to fail, you'll wish you had that chiller. Food for thought...
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Hey Butters, They are not built in timers on the Outer Orbit. They are seperate ordinary timers like you would get at any hardware store. I'm keeping cool so far with a fan, but I have a used chiller I have not hooked up yet.
 
butters

butters

Member
oh they are not built in? thats gay...... its sound like they are built in by the description.....
well,can you give me details on it then....
do the HM, T5 and LED's have separate cords so they can all be on diff timers? how are the moon lights? i hear the ballasts are big, where do you have them placed?
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
All on seperate cords. MH ballasts are big and heavy. I have them sitting on a cabinet next to the tank. The moon lights are pretty bright. I usually only use the blues unless I'm really looking for something.
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
With (2) 250w halides on 120 gallons, you probably will be okay without a chiller provided you encourage evaporation as described by others here, and if you don't let the room the tank is in get too warm. If you keep your AC on 80 in the summer, you will have a hard time controlling the temperature.
But I will put out my usual (though on this board unpopular) comment that you should heavily consider the value of the livestock in a tank this size. You can easily put several (or many) thousands worth of livestock into it. If your home AC were to fail, you'll wish you had that chiller. Food for thought...

SCSInet has a point here. Heat is an issue with MH that is less of an issue (if at all) with T5. if you have a plan to address it, then you would be fine going with MH.
I didnt want, nor had room for a chiller. So I used to have my tank on a reverse schedule so that the tank was on at night, when I would have the AC colder since I would be at home. I also was able to view it more, rather than during the day when I was at work.
If you have a sump, a simple clip-on fan that is timed with your MHs will usually do the trick (it has for me). My MHs are on during the day now (2pm - 10pm) with actinic 2 hrs on either side of the MHs.
 
reeferman75

reeferman75

Member
I say T5's ,
first you wont need a chiller, second the different spectrum you can run are almost endless. I myself am running 16 48" T5's over my 240 and will run T5's on my new 300 when I get it set up.
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
get an 8x54w tek fixture u can keep what u want now and than u still have enough light for sps anenomes and clams
 
butters

butters

Member
the only prob i have is, none of theT5's have moon lights
i saw this light at a LFS on a 75 and i love it.
im hoping to find a used outer orbit, for a good price.
 
zeroc

zeroc

Member
i just use a 6" clip-on desk fan blowing across the top of the water that turns on when i turn my lights on and i run my HM 10 hours a day and the tank only raises about 1 degree over the course of the day. So as long as you keep your house at 70 or less year round you probably won't need a chiller. and you have 45 gallons more water then me too. And i like the crisp white too and run 10k bulbs.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by ZeroC
So as long as you keep your house at 70 or less year round you probably won't need a chiller.
You northern people are spoiled rotten. If I kept my AC at 70 in the summer I could buy 2 chillers with the electric bills!!!

Makes me wish I still lived in Milwaukee.
 
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