150 mh or 4ft 4 tube T5

ROBSTERB

Well-Known Member
as the title says, im currently using a 125 watt cfl for my veg room for 6 lady's, and thinking about upgrading, so was thinking for the sake of another 25 watts i could buy a 150 watt mh, but then i would need to add an extraction fan for the heat! would i? how much heat do the little 150 put off? room sits around the 68 mark with the light off, so that would put it up to at least 200 watts with the fan, + the extra work of running ducting,

so my next idea is to go with the 4 foot 4 tube T5, 216 watts, also means no extraction and the 6 plants would fit right under the 4 foot length.

so who has tried both or is using either now? what one should i go for? thanks for any help.
+ rep added freely.
 

oldandbold

Active Member
The problem U my have under one fixture is the light needs to be very close. I use 3- 24"X4 tube T5 fixtures for veg. Its easy to adjust the lights to the different plant heights. I can not speak to the 150 MH as I have never used one but heat can even be a problem w/T5s. Also consider a humidifier as the T5s can really dry the air.
 

Phaeton

Active Member
My veg is under fluorescents in an arch.
One flat on top and two angled about 45 degrees on each side. These are 4' T5 fixtures. The extra lights put light on top and down the sides, really improves bushiness, do not need a tape measure, it shows. 2', 4', I doubt length matters, angling the fluorescents over the top makes them more effective.
As oldandbold points out, they are multiple adjustable. Great for that odd branch sticking out as well as different strains.

Took a pic jusc because I like to now that I can.
 

Attachments

Well for one you should have an exhaust even when using cfls or t5s. Your plants need constant renewal of the air in the room. I find cfls and t5s are fine for vegging though.
 

unohu69

Well-Known Member
A 175MH pushes temp a little on the high side low 90's easy, as long as the fresh air intake is turned on temps are good. The problem now is the outside temps are dropping fast, now temps are to low i think. high 60's to mid 70's.

2 100w equivalent floros in a pc case runs mid 70's to low 80's so far. A 100w HPS in same case will run 93 at least if not climb higher, tho i never let it.
 

ROBSTERB

Well-Known Member
thanks for all the help, think i will go with the T5, the veg room has got an intake so fresh air is no problems, ive vegged this way for a while under the 125 watt cfl,
 

unohu69

Well-Known Member
yup. i like the T5's for veg. Have you looked into the newer T2 bulbs, they are sposed to be even better than t5, and you can daisy chain them together.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquariumbulb.html#t2light

"
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]T- 2 Aquarium Lamps and Fixtures[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]• Very Low Profile with a 7 mm Diameter and compact length
• Axial type Wedge base
• VHO/ 82 CRI
• 73 LUMENS PER WATT; for example the 13 watt 6400 K produces 950 lumens (73 Lumens per Watt) which is 70% more lumens per watt than most bulbs, making this one of the best planted aquarium lamps available for its size (as well as an excellent complimentary Marine/Reef Light)!
Even a standard T5 Light does not have this output per watt, only LEDs are more efficient!
*Bluntly, the highest output of useful light energy for aquatic life of ANY fluorescent light!
• The Newest Technology T2, the 3rd generation model #302; includes a rotating lens with built in reflector, a feature not available in T5 Fixtures! "
[/FONT]
 

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
going from a 125w cfl to a 150 metal halide is not that much of a step up m8
if you are going to make the change go for a 250mh at least they are like 25k lumen
if you look a 150w metal halide is pretty shit for lumens really i think its like 13-14k. where a 125w cfl can be 9k. not much of an increase really
on 6 girls i would give them a 400mh at least how much space are these plants in are they very small plants ?
 

ROBSTERB

Well-Known Member
going from a 125w cfl to a 150 metal halide is not that much of a step up m8
if you are going to make the change go for a 250mh at least they are like 25k lumen
if you look a 150w metal halide is pretty shit for lumens really i think its like 13-14k. where a 125w cfl can be 9k. not much of an increase really
on 6 girls i would give them a 400mh at least how much space are these plants in are they very small plants ?
the room itself is in a triangle and the bottom/widest is about 4 foot, i like to veg until 18 inches ive already got a 250 light lieing around so i suppose i could buy the mh bulb for it, or even another 125 cfl would produce about 18,000 lumes (x 2) that might be the better option now that i think about it, means 3 plants under each light, that should be enough to veg till 18 inches, yes? thanks for all the help.
 
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