T5 or MH?

[edwing206]

I am slowy collecting nice zoos and palys and that is what tank is goingto be mainly focused on. So my question is what will make zoos and palys POP more? T5's or MH? I want them to glow. I am going ti start saving my money for new lights ( i have crappy jebo pc ) and am waiting to see when and how much the new aquatinics t5 fixture will cost, so that will be my t5 option or the tek fixture. for my halide choice i am looking at the sunpod 250 watt. or is 150 enough?
also what bulb combos are the best choices for each fixture? i have read that for MH is 14k bulb. what would be a good t5 combo?

thanks for the help in advance.

 

[edwing206]

i just thought of adding a poll. genius. is that how you spell it? o well.

 

[d.grcich]

Stand alone T5's of course are going to make your zoa's pop or glow more than MH but that is because of your option of different actinics. Add some C/F or T5 actinics to your MH and then maybe compare the two. Just my 2 cents.
I have a 14K MH set up with dual VHO atinics and my stuff looks great. Photo's allways have a bluish wash to them so for me its harder to do glamour shots.

 

[edwing206]

ok thanks. anymore advice?

 

[dc_909]

Easy. Both.

 

[edwing206]

but that would be way expensive. i live off an allowance.
what watt MH would be good for a 24 inch 30 gallon tank? 150watt? and if i were to go with the MH and T5 combo what bulbs would be the best?

 

[twon8]

i'd go with one 250w mh in a good reflector.

a 24" tank isn't the best dimension for t5's

 

[edwing206]

really? why? doesn't penatrate as deep?

 

[Ike]

I've been having a heck of a lot of problems with T5s bleaching out colors in my zoanthids. It's probably a nutirent thing as well, but I've never had problems with metal hallides doing this in nutrient poor environments.

 

[JGoslee]

i'd go with one 250w mh in a good reflector.

a 24" tank isn't the best dimension for t5's

This is the best option IMO. I'd go with a 14k phoenix. No need for actinics. I have actinic t5's on my tank with 14k's and I don't see a big difference from when I didnt have the t5's.

 

[edwing206]

will the 14k make the zoos POP a lot? and what would be good mh fixture?
is the sunpod a good fixture?

 

[JGoslee]

I love the color of the 14k phoenix. I think it gives some nice pop to the corals. I've never used the sunpod so Im not sure what ballast it comes with. With the 14k phoenix you will get the best color using a icecap ballast. Here's a link to a single 250watt de kit that comes with the icecap ballast.
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Me...t_System_-_250W_14000K+_HQI_Phoenix_by_IceCap

 

[edwing206]

thanks for the link.

 

[kappaknight]

I've used the 14k phoenix with a Sunpod before and the corals looked pretty nice. Though, I also supplemented with an additional actinic fixture. I'm using the Outer Orbit fixture now with 14k phoenix and actinics and the corals look great.

 

[edwing206]

thanks for the help kappaknight.