hi isaac,

it's matter of economics and family harmony! haha... esp when the power bill comes in...
the lights are on loan from cjloong so no harm trying...

there's some guy on APC whose T5 luminaire is fantastic and sexy...
he doesn't say where though

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So many aquascapes, so little time...http://www.my-mac.net/forum/

I like the excitement of the discussion. But really, it depends on what we wanna have in our tanks in terms or plants & fish? What is the outcome? Is the MH still a good option? Or is it back to PL? we newbies wanna know and possibly get down to work on our tanks too.

hi dempsey,

ok found you here. i'd go for the 70W mh...

just need to balance it with a warm fl tube. tried it last week and woo hoo. discus were ducking for cover...haha. just don't feel like drilling holes in the ceiling. figuring a clip/screw mount that i can mount to inside bracing of tank and hang the mh on it.

will leave that to machine shop fellas.

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So many aquascapes, so little time...http://www.my-mac.net/forum/

look at this thread http://www.myfishforum.com/threadnav991-1-10.html for some diy tips

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So many aquascapes, so little time...http://www.my-mac.net/forum/

IMHO, MH have pros and cons.
Cons:-
- Wash out colors.
- Fish scared.
- Hard to mount.
- May be hard to control (too bright).

Pros
- save electricity. (70W is all you need for 2 1/2 ft and perhaps 3 ft)
- Very very bright. (notice this is in cons section also)
- shimmering effect. (cannot find in any other light unless supercharge them)
- Very effective with shiny/metalic(as oppose to glowing) fish.

I believe this outcome is like this, it is a good option if you are looking for the items in the pros section. An alternative is to supplement it with FL.

Not much of an outcome yet but this item is still in progress as we all gain more experience here will post more.

Hehehe! Just want to hear from the horses mouth if they are convinced that MH is better. If so, any pics?

Heh heh... For me in short, use in this tank yes. Wanna save some 'watt', so yes it is better. Use it in all tanks, no.

BTW. For comparison, you can see an old picture (my 'chap pa lang' tank) in the first page.

Is this the picture do you want to see?

great tips there cjloong.

just to add mh isn't your instant on off kind of light. not like fl/pl anyway. it take awhile to charge and blow the orcs away.

shimmering is def awesome because it imitate ripple effect in rivers.
you def need to supplement with fl/pl to get right colour balance otherwise i ahem may be able to get some colour correction filters.

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So many aquascapes, so little time...http://www.my-mac.net/forum/

great tips there cjloong.

just to add mh isn't your instant on off kind of light. not like fl/pl anyway. it take awhile to charge and blow the orcs away.

shimmering is def awesome because it imitates ripple effect in rivers.
you def need to supplement with fl/pl to get right colour balance otherwise i [ahem cough] may be able to get some colour correction filters.

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So many aquascapes, so little time...http://www.my-mac.net/forum/

Hi Standoyo
Are you using the filters yet? Would be great if you post the outcome.

I am trying to avoid supplementing with fl/pl as I prefer a "wide open" top aquarium. The less equipment on top the better.