150W MH vs. 24'' 4 x bulb t5 HO

[myjohnson]

Brands aside...

Which do you guys think is better?

Pros and cons of each.

Both will he hanging over my new tank.

[Darbex]

A lot of people from MARSH would say get 4 t5s with individual reflectors as its less heat and just as powerful output for any corals. But get the Ice Cap 660 ballast I have read that its the most powerful ballast. Down side is it overdrives the bulbs and will require replacing the bulbs a little earlier than a normal ballast but it will produce less heat than a MH.

[myjohnson]

Thanks Brian.

I'm also debating to have this tank at my new apartment or at work.

If I have it at work, I would get the MH and a chiller. Let work pay for it.

But I leaning towards the t5s right now. The heat issues bugs me.

[Darbex]

You going to set up a SW at work? You got an easy way to do WC?

[myjohnson]

Still debating.

5 gallon buckets will work.

[snookfish]

it mostly depends on what corals you want? if your going with alot of sps or clams, then most would claim you get better growth from MH. but!!! you can still have that with T5's. I have even been told T5's give more "pop" to corals because you can mix and match with the 4 or 6 bulbs. with the right light color rating and enough bulbs you can have whatever you want no matter what you get. i like my T5's due to temp and heat and cost to run. and I'm not trying to propigate anything to make money.

[i_am_poor]

MH with t5 supp. I will go back to MH on my next tank. Its hot but 14/20k and call it a day. I'm done with trying 10 diff combinations of t5 bulbs to get a decent color.

[myjohnson]

When you getting back into the game foo?