HO T5 vs Metel Halide

I have a 30" tall tank with two 400w MH above it right now but considering changing it to 6 54w HO T5s to save on some energy.
My question is would that be enough light?  I mainly have SPS but for the most part they are towards the top of the tank
Will I be that much money if I switched to the T5 HO?  

 

Its supposed to say will it be that much money that I will save by switching lol

Also would the HO T5s be able to penetrate enough light to the bottom of the tank?

 

Well, on wattage alone you are cutting your power by more than half; if they are being over-driven I'm guessing you are still cutting your power by about half. I would say that with individual reflectors you will be fine in terms of having adequate light output. You are also likely to cut down on heat pretty drastically.

 

I had them on my 24 inch deep tank & took them off & went with MH. They just didnt seem strong enough. Also when you overdrive them, the bulbs didnt seem to last nearly as long.

 

Thanks bela

Thats what I was worried about with switching cause I dont want excess algae growing in the tank. Maybe ill try them out though its the ones that ninja (matt) is selling

 

Have you considered LEDs? I had two 400 W MH's over my tank, and I replaced them with AI LED's which draw 21w. I don't remember what the ballasts drew for the MH, but I have cut my energy consumption considerably by changing. I also didn't need the chiller anymore, so that cut that and the big pump that circulated the water out of the loop. Life is good w/ LEDs.

 

Yea but are your sps growing at the same rate?

 

I would recommend adding two more lamps to bring your total to 8. I assume you need two ballasts to run 6 bulbs, so adding two more bulbs is totally doable.

I have 16 t-5's over an 8' long tank, 24" deep. 8 bulbs on each 4' section of tank. Your tank is half the length of mine so 2 ballasts, eight bulbs is my recommendation.

I get CRAZY growth under these lights. I have mostly SPS located in the middle to upper part of the tank. Acans, LPS, zoos, etc. down lower on the floor. I have never run MH so I can't comment.

Since your tank is 36" deep you may not get good sps growth at the bottom of your tank.

As for cost savings, 8 bulbs = 432 watts. Your MH's pull 800 watts so you are cutting your bills in half.

Obviously LED's will drop your bill to almost nothing, but like Fishbrain, I think the verdict is still out on some things like color and growth rates on SPS. I am hoping over the next year or so that the LED early adopters will be able to report on how they think their growth and color is compared to their old system.

 

I have great color and growth without the worry of heat and power consumption. I don't think LEDs fall short on any measure. They are hard to photograph under though, and I don't know why that is.

 

This is exactly why I haven't jumped on the LED train. 
Where is the thread that shows actual photo graphical evidence that LED's can compete with MH's when it comes to SPS growth rate?
I would love to be able to grow SPS at the same rate a 400 watt MH would with very little heat and energy consumption but I have yet to see any evidence that they are even in the same ballpark.  I haven't really looked that hard, I just haven't seen very many tanks lit by LED's that have SPS growing like weeds.

 

Any suggestions on what type of bulbs for the T5s i should get?

 

I might use:ATI 3 blue plus 54w
ATI 2 aquablue 54w
ATI 1 purple plus 54w

Check out grim reefer on reef central. I use an 8X54 fixture with good results.

 

I use this combo:

Super Actinic - UV lighting
Blue Plus-ATI x3
Aquasun- UV Lighting
Aquablue Special- ATI x2
Purple Plus - ATI