T5 or Metal Halide. Yes another thread....

[SeedlessOne]

Ok I am finally about to begin setting up my 90g that has been sitting in my living room. I bought the tank used and it came with VHO lighting using two icecap 600s. I really cant decide which type of lighting to go with. Ditch the VHO and upgrade to T5 using the icecaps or sell the icecaps and go metal halide? Either way I don't want to use a chiller, but I do keep my house no hotter than 72f. The tank will mostly SPS. Discuss......

Thanks

[docstomper]

Go t5 for the win.

[10001110101]

done to death.

they are both great.

just like everything it comes down to bulbs, ballasts, and reflectors.

boom.

which look do you prefer, this should be the deciding factor.

[200mfromocean]

You should be fine with <72 temp, using fan to control temperature with halides.

[rob.mwpropane]

Gosh, why not both. I run a 175w 15k iwasaki on a 29, and it was way to white, so I added t5 actinic. So.... I vote both. You could keep the vho's for pop, and just add mh in between....

[rob.mwpropane]

Oh, FWIW I put a computer fan in my canopy and my bulb is 8" off the water, and actually the fan cools the water! Without the fan there is no way I could touch the reflector, with it you can barely tell the light is on, its almost cool to the touch.

[James77]

Ive done both, and they both can work great assuming use of quality refectors and ballasts. I prefer halides because they look better on the tank, with a bright crisp look with shimmer. Any extra heat from halides can be taken care of with fans, and the electric use difference between the two was not significant- about $8-10 more a month.

If you have extremely high electric rates, or big troubles with heat, T5s can be better in that area.

[Ehaze]

I have used both, I like MH more.

I had no problems growing any coral, infact the t5 would kill a lot of my sps up top, they had to slowly be moved up (not too long, just under a month), not to be bleached.

But I just like the color I get from MH way more, I could not care less about the shimmer, but any combo of 6 lights would not give me the color my local reefers had with MH.

[SeedlessOne]

I think Im going to go with t5. I just hope I get the growth I desire. Im thinking a 6 bulb using icecap ballasts with two VHO actinic. Do you guys think this fill all fit in a 90g canopy?