Vho/hqi Vs. T5/hqi

[inthemix]

With all the lighting products out there, or coming out soon im confused ont he best course of action to take, when lighting my mixed (sps,soft,hard,clam,fish,zoos,etc.) reef.


I hear alot about the upcoming sunlight supply hood with 2 250 watt HQI 10k bulbs, and 2 (or is it 4?) 54W T5 Actinics.

There are also the PFO Acrolights with 2 250W HQI 10k bulbs, and 2 110W VHO Actinics.

1) Im just not sure what to get, I have heard that the reflectors on the sunlight supply T5s will be unbelievable, but is it enought to make up for the huge difference in wattage? Which setup will be the best?

2) Furthermore, why not just put the SLS reflectors on the VHOs in the PFO Acrolight?

3) Will the sunlight supply hood have 2 fans, and will they be as good as the icecaps available on the acrolight?



I want to do this lighting thing right the first time, what do you think?

 

[Jeremy B.]

1) Im just not sure what to get, I have heard that the reflectors on the sunlight supply T5s will be unbelievable, but is it enought to make up for the huge difference in wattage? Which setup will be the best?

Keep in mind that there is not so much of a difference if you compare the wattages of T-5 and VHO's, then surface area of the amount of light that is coming out of each lamp. You have twice the amount of surface area that light is emitting from than what you do the T-5's, so the difference is actually in favor of the T-5 lamp.

2) Furthermore, why not just put the SLS reflectors on the VHOs in the PFO Acrolight?

If you wanted to purchase the reflectors and mount them into the Acrolight you could most certainly do this. Although the amount of space they would take up would, it would make it to be not all that functionable. They would also shadow out some of the reflector that the MH lamp is using in there.

3) Will the sunlight supply hood have 2 fans, and will they be as good as the icecaps available on the acrolight?

I am unsure on what Sunlight will be doing for fans in this system right now. The last I heard they are planning on a release date in mid February, so I am sure we'll know a lot more of the specifics on this hood in the next couple of weeks.