going from t5 to 20k radiums

[sanababit]

ok so i have a couple of questions for anyone that have/are running radiums, i have been toying with the idea of running mh in the winter, i have the reflectors and the ballast and i would like to run 250w 20k radiums only with no supplemental, they will run probably till may, i would like to get better color from my corals and since its cold then i would not suffer getting the tank to hot, so here are my questions

1 will these bulbs by themselves eventually bring out better colors?
2 do i REALLY need t5 or vho?
3 i read that they give little PAR, ~263par, isn't this to low for mh, i tought PAR is what brougth out the colors

my params are

salinity 1.05
ph 8.3
alk ~9 dkh
cal 440ppm
mag 1410ppm
temp ~75
nitrate 0ppm
PO4 dont have a photometer

anyways, i would really like your opinions on this, and i know that i need to acclimate the corals to new lighting so dont worry, lol, thanks

sana

[mojo~]

Radiums on galaxy ballast are anything but low par. Very high par great color and you dod not need supplements. the added bulbs do make for a nice dusk dawn effect.

[homeboyreefer]

do you really think running mhs are going to give you better color then the ATI PM?? i thought the whole point of the t5 fixtures is to give you better color?

[sanababit]

do you really think running mhs are going to give you better color then the ATI PM?? i thought the whole point of the t5 fixtures is to give you better color?

imo t5 brings the artificial color out of the corals because of the color of light and mh brings out the color of the corals because of its intensity, as i understand lighting, the zooanthalae that lives inside the corals protects itself from intense light by pigmentation, thus bringing out color naturally