Giesemann 230 Plus. 150 or 250.

[hskim]

Hi,

I currently have Tek T5 light hood but I'm thinking about getting "24" Giesemann 230 Plus 1 x 150W MH + 2 x 24W T5 Lighting System" because my corals are not doing so well under T5s. But I don't know if I need 150watt or 250watt. I'm in process of turning my 29gallon 18" deep tank into mini reef and so far it is a mixed reef system. I have acros, montis, ricordia, colt and zoanthus. Will 250watt be too bright? Should I go with 150watt? I mainly want my tank to support sps but still want to keep softies at bottom and in shades.

Am I doing the right thing or am I wasting my money? I know there are T5 users with good results so can those who has success with T5s share what bulbs they are using and how high they have the lights and so on... I'm really about to give up the T5s soon. I curently have two Giesemann aqua blue and two Giesemann blue plus bulbs on my 24" 4 bulb Tek T5 Hood.

Thanks,
hskim

[smatter]

I would spend the extra cash and get the 250w. Those are nice systems. I love my Nova 250w. When I first bought it a few years back I replaced a 175w w/PCs pendant and fried some corals so do be careful.

[collins]

I have the 2 x 150 + 2 x 54 version over my 90 because I didn't want the extra 200 watts of power bills. All of my corals (including sps) are doing just fine

[tigershark4]

I don't believe your issue is your lighting. I think it is the type of corals that you have in a small tank. Either go hard corals or soft corals. As your soft corals shed they will leave a slim in your tank that will affect your hard corals

[hskim]

My corals are bleaching soft and hard. Soon as they enter my tank under T5HO lights they start loosing color within a week. Only thing that is sort of doing well is my acropora tenuis. It has bleached area at the base but it is only coral that is keeping its color. Even montiporas are loosing colors. I'm not saying that my corals dying, they are healty and all of them are growing well.

I have Deltec MCE600 skimmer and this thing is pulling out too much nutrients from the water and I actually have to feed more and create some nitrogen for zoox in corals. That is what Eric Borenman at Marine Depot's Forum concluded after I explaind everything about my tank.

I'm not sure either whether it is the T5s or my skimmer but at least more people have success with MH then T5s. I'm not the only one with this problem with T5s. Read this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=852587&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

This is what happens to the corals after about a month in my tank. This is a frogspawn:

before T5

http://www.pbase.com/hijkim/image/61129521/medium.jpg

after T5

http://www.pbase.com/hijkim/image/61129523/medium.jpg