Which light to go with???

[fishnfst]

I posted this in the lighting forum as well.. I received some good answers.. Finally moved some rock into the tank and wanted to see what the light looked like..

Here is a pic of the two tanks next to each other.. The tank on the left is an 18H with my 150mh pendant.. The tank on the right is a 20L with a 4x24w sunlight supply t5ho fixture... I'm wanting to transfer everything over to the 20L.. Will the t5 fixture be enough light? Should I use the mh fixture instead..

There is a horrendous amount of glare coming off of one of the rocks due to its color...

Here is the 20L with the t5ho fixture about 18 inches above it..

Here is a picture of the sump just for kicks..

Please don't mind the hoses from my diatom filter.. Was just trying to clean up some of the residual dust from transfering rock and sand from oen of my other tanks..

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

You didn't say what you're planning to put in the tank, so it's difficult to say. I'm sure you're familiar with what takes lots of light and what doesn't. Since I love SPS, I'll assume you love them too

Is there no way you can put both? I would think it would be optimal to run your 150 with a 10K-20K and your T5s with actinics. Perhaps you could DIY some sort of canopy and make this work, though it would require disassembling your pendant. Maybe you could split up the T5's so you have one in front one in back, and hang the pendant in the middle?? Just a thought. Good luck.

 

[fishnfst]

I had thought about that.. I didn't want to cut up the t5 fixture though... I was hoping to get away from the mh fixture due to the heat issues.. I have a bunch of zoas and Lps.. There is also a Rbta and a couple of small acro frags.. I was hoping to add a clam somewhere down the line.. Do you think the t5 setup has enough light for a clam?