quick story and pretty urgent advice needed.

[hotrodolds]

well i kinda got backed into a corner and need to get some lights like yesterday haha. I purchased a bunch of rock and cuc to finish out the tank yesterday and the guy was real good helpful reefer. He threw me a nice frag of this really nice green and brown brain coral that i had mentioned i liked in one of his tanks. I told him i didnt have the lights for it but would by the end of the week. He said it should be fine for a few days under crap light.

Well now i got money, ready to order my lights and bam.. Fishneedit is out of stock on their T5 set ups.

So im trying to decide by the end of the day what to do. I need to hunt down either a used set up from someone somewhere. Fishneedit has 150watt metal halides for 129 and 70watts for 109. I really like the look of the very blue tanks i see on here though. Should i just say screw it and go with the metal halides? What bulb should i run kelvin wise? Would i need to worry about heat from the 70 or 150? What one should i get?

I dont know crap about metal halide because ive had full intentions of going with a t5 set up for a while now.

EDIT: just got the email back from fishneedit. They said the new t5s will interlock with the old metal halides so i can get a metal halide so that solves my actinic problem.

 

[JPReef]

so do you still need help choosing a light or no?

 

[hotrodolds]

Yes, i need to figure out if i should go with the 70 or 150. I really can not afford a chiller so im wary of a big heat source. Also what bulb should i run. I know 6500k is supposed to be fast growth but i really would like a white or blue look.

Tank has been set at 78 since set up. Not planning on having acros, but will like to have some montis.

 

[JPReef]

I would suggest a DE HQI 150w 10k will be more white and 14k will be more bluish. If you have a canopy just put a small fan in it, like a 120mm computer case fan. Make sure its blowing in though. If you dont have a canopy just hang the pendant and you shouldnt have any heat issues if your tank has an open top.

 

[hotrodolds]

well just ordered the 150 a few minutes ago and selected a 14k bulb.

Its an open top so hopefully no heat issues will happen. Guess with this set up i can keep any corals i want. Just a matter of keeping calcium and everything in line.

 

[JPReef]

cool, hope everything turns out with the look you will like. Keep me posted. :thumbsup: