# Whats better than metal halides?



## chunkylover817 (Sep 28, 2007)

So i havea 300 gallon tank, with 2 - 400 watt metal halide, but i was thinking of switching em out for other lighting, anyone know of any light fixtures that are better than the halides? This is a freshwater aquarium so no lunar lights and actintic bulbs needed, fixture has to be 96", thanks!


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

I would say the modern T5HO fixtures compete well with metal halides if space is not limiting. I also prefer the wide array of bulb choices when it comes to fluorescents Vs MH. My 180g uses Fluorescents as it's main source of lighting and 250W MH bulbs for the midday burst to keep the growth nice and compact. A mixture would be my preference for such a large tank.

Not sure how many off-the-shelf fixtures of this caliber are out there that are not marketed to the reef hobby and therefore come equiped with actinics and less desirable bulb choices... I build my own so not much help on that end.

This is the fixture I'm currently using on the 180g:









Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

chunkylover817 said:


> So i havea 300 gallon tank, with 2 - 400 watt metal halide, but i was thinking of switching em out for other lighting, anyone know of any light fixtures that are better than the halides? This is a freshwater aquarium so no lunar lights and actintic bulbs needed, fixture has to be 96", thanks!


I agree with gpodia. I would look at T5HO lighting. Unless you prefer/need the intense light effect (rippling) that MH provides you'll get better energy efficiency and lower cost light bulbs. 96" is conveniently 2 X 4'. So a pair of 4' fixtures end to end (T5HO bulbs are actually 46.5" long) with eight bulbs each (sixteen bulbs total) would provide about the same wattage of light and somewhat higher total intensity.

If the fixtures are built with two-bulb ballasts, you will have a lot of flexibility in how many bulbs are 'on' at any given time.

You could buy a pack of these 6500K bulbs Fifty X 54watt T5HO, $113 and never need to buy light bulbs again.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

I was thinking 16 bulbs couldn't possibly cost less than a couple metal halides... but 50 for $113 is quite a deal! Any photos of how these look over a tank?


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

the sun?


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## trag (Jan 9, 2008)

gpodio said:


> I was thinking 16 bulbs couldn't possibly cost less than a couple metal halides... but 50 for $113 is quite a deal! Any photos of how these look over a tank?


I have the equivalent 39watt bulbs on a 30 gallon tank, but I'm crap at taking photos. It's a planted guppy tank and it looks fine to me. At that price, you can fill out most of your lights with those bulbs and add a few others to balance the spectrum in your preferred direction if you wish.

They also sell the 24 watt bulbs in singletons. So if you know someone with a 24" T5HO fixture, you could order one of the 24" bulbs and install it and look at the light. Of course there's no guarantee that the 48" looks just like the 24" but they're probably using the same phosphor coating on all the 6500K bulbs....


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

I may need to order a couple just to see how I like them...

Chunkylover817, (...making sure no one is looking as I type that  ) I have more details on my lighting in this thread:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...3051-low-light-high-tech-automated-180-a.html

Although I thought I would need the midday burst from the metal halides, I haven't had to use them just yet... I am just running two 40W T12 tubes overdriven by a 110W VHO ballast. So far so good, I didn't think i could get away with just those but surprisingly enough they are performing far better than I had expected. Only time will tell...

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

MH is the best there is right now.

watt for watt and $ for $, nothing beats a halide.


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