[cbkhoon]

Hi all,

I am also a marine fish & coral keeper for many years, I recently changed my metal halide to T5 to have better colouration & save energy.

I notice not all T5 are real "T5" , those RM18 for 2 feet is definately does not work like a real T5, they are just energy saver lamp & the K reading is rather lower than what you expected, try get some philips tornado series energy saver with 6500k , this is much easier & lower maintenance, save energy too.

I am using 4 pieces of blue T5 brand "Katana" from japan selling around RM50 for 4 feet, it is 54w & u need a electronic ballast for this costing u around rm70-90. Each ballast can power up 2 lamps.