Lighting Questions

[Str8Emulated]

Would 400 watts of metal halide be the same as 400 watts of PC? In the same aspect, would the 400 watts of VHO or T-5's all be the same? If I have a 120 gallon tank, and I want 8 WPG (I'm closer to 8.5, but I want to downsize the 2-400 watt metal halides for power bill reasons), can I get the same coral growth results with just T-5's or VHO's (I'm not too fond of PCs) and not worry about running the metal halides?

I currently have 2-400 watt 20k MH, 1-54 watt pure actinic T-5, 1-54 watt actinic plus T-5, and 2-39 watt pure actinic T-5's, with this rig, can I take out the 2 MH's, and add in 800 watts of T-5's or VHO's, and get the same results?

I have many other questions about lighting I will continue to post.

[melosu58]

I think the administrator answered this question on the other post.

[afishyonados]

http://www.pcgok.com/PCGFiles/T5%20v...0comparison%22

Food for thought... Check out the pics!

[roka64]

Originally Posted by afishyonados

http://www.pcgok.com/PCGFiles/T5%20vs%20Metal%20halide%20Comparison.pdf#search=% 22T5%20metal%20halide%20comparison%22

Food for thought... Check out the pics!

Yeah, that's pretty neat to see the difference.
Mel, I think there were more questions and Str8Emulated didn't want to hijack the thread.....

[Str8Emulated]

Going by that, I can see that there are definetly MANY MANY advantages to T-5's over MH's. What about VHO'S? I've done a few experiments with VHO's and T-5's, but are there any others out here who can tell me some advantages or disadvantages to the VHO's over the T-5's? I would really like to make sure I have the best light set-up I can possibly get for a wide range of corals.

[melosu58]

I wish I could help Str8 but I`ve only had VHO`s the whole 9 yrs I`ve had a SW tank. I just like the actinic look as do my corals.