T5s or Metal Halide

what types of corals are you planning to keep?

keep in mind MH gets pretty hot so you'll need fans or a chiller for cooling.
 
I have the JBJ28 with MH and PC's. If I had it to do over, I would gut the hood and go with T5's. The heat is a lot even with the closed lid I am losing more water then I want. I am going to have to get a Chiller this next month as the heat turns up here in Indiana, you being in CA will for sure need a chiller unless you keep your house at like 65 and only run the MH 4-5 hours a day.
 
That is the hard part, I found a guy that did it on NanoReef, let me see if I can find the post. Another possibility is to build a small hood, I have ZERO abilities at building so that wasn't an option for me, hence the reason I went with MH and the modded PC's and upgraded fans.

If I had the ability or friends that can build things I would go with a custom hood, you can use the legs from the LFS for the PC's they sell and go with 4 T5's and put anything you want in that tank with great success esp SPS. The heat would be much better, and I may even just sell my hood and see if I can find a local reef club member with skills to build a hood for me. I hate the heat this thing puts off.
 
Yeah I saw someones hood from nanoreefs, and It had pcs mixed with mh. It was nice. He did it all himself. However I know someone selling some 24" T5s so I might just buy them.
 
I know the main difference between the two is how much heat it produces but what about the lighting is there a difference and what do you prefer?
 
If you can get some T5's go with them for sure. The look depends on your taste, without MH you will not get the shimmer effect. If you don't mind not having that (which I don't mind the look) then go for the T5's. You can get some great colors with T5, just as good with MH and growth will be very good.
 
I have always use the HO (high output) is what it means. I am not sure about standard T5. I have used just about all the bulbs out there, KZ makes some great blue blubs, giesemann make great bulbs as well. I like more of a blue look so I used the Fiji purple, Aqua Science for my whites, and giesemann for the blue.
 
what fixture is it and how manyw atts? That will tell you.
t5 florecent is mainly used in freshwater. They don't really have a ton more output than normal NO t8s, but you can pack more of them over a tank. I've heard of people using them in a reef, but you need a lot of bulbs and it isn't a ton of light...
 
IMG00016.jpg

This the T5 I wanted let me know what you think
 
a tek light you can not. Some like the aquactinics you can. The tek lights get hotter than some others, so you are likely to run into a similar heat problem as halides. You woudl have to get the legs or a hanging kit.
 
yeah i have mine hung about 7 inches above my tank. for bulbs i have 1 kz fiji purple bulb, 1 ati blue plus and 2 ati 12k bulbs. i like the look but if i could do it again i would get rid of one of the ati 12k's and get another ati blue plus so i could have a more blue look.
 
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