70w mh vs. 96w pc

[trumph]

I have been watching this forum for the upgrades done to everyone's Cube's.... New/more powerheads, new/more hood fans, tons of LR, LS, remove sponges, ceramics & balls, add LR & Cheato to rear chambers w/fuge light, Chem-Pure, PhosBan, surface skimmers, etc. They all seem to make sense to me so far as I'm only into SW for ~2 months. The problem I'm having is with the lighting upgrade...why does everyone advocate the use of Metal Halides over Power Compacts? Wouldn't a 96w PC upgrade be more beneficial to coral critters than a 70w MH?

 

I'm confused/ignorant and looking for a reason to pick one over the other. Thanks....

[yoshiod9]

mh has better penetration (for deeper tanks) and par levels. but i'm really wishy-washy when it comes to lighting. in my eclipse12 i have both a 96w powerquad AND a 70w 14k mh. lol. i couldn't decide which i liked more.

[artarmon42]

It is generally regarded that MH is better for reefs (more natural spectrums). Most SPSs will only thrive under MH, regardless of how many W of PCs.

[SaltCreep]

Originally posted by artarmon42

Most SPSs will only thrive under MH

 

Although I would have agreed with you 6 months ago now I'm gonna have to refute that statement. T5 fouresant(sp?) lighting is proving in many cases to actually be better for SPS(there are lots of nanocube t5 options). Many of the Hardcore diehard SPS enthusiasts are switching over. My brother is keeping a # of different hard to keep acros under 4x39watt T5s and they have shown much better growth than compared to the 2x250 watt halides they were under. By nature I'm a metal halide guy but these t5's are awesome. If you dont know a whole lot about em do a search over at RC I think you'll be pretty impressed. Good luck.

[artarmon42]

You're talking about T5 HO (high output)?

I do hear that the HOs are pretty good, but have depth limitations (T5s are limited to 24"?).