Anouther Newbie lighting question

[beetleseb]

Hi

Sorry if this has been asked 100 times before but I can never get the search function to work and want to make the right choice.

I'm setting up a 24"x12" aquarium which is 14" high. 17.5 gallons with a similar sized sump.

I'm only looking to keep the easier stuff and we quite fancy the following corals

Clove Polyp or brown star polyp
Mushroom Coral (Sarcophyton ehrenbergi)
Yellow Zoanthid
Button Polyp (Protopalythoa spp)
Mushroom anemone (Discosoma sp)

Obviously there may be room for some more but they will be along the same lines and I'm gonna add them really slowly.

We will also have 2 Percula Clown's and a small Goby of some sort along with the usual cleanup crew. I always understock my planted tanks and am going to do the same with the reef

The question is what lighting and how much?

MH and T5 cost about the same in the UK but I'm worried about the heat build up from the MH and obviously the electric bill will be more! I also like the simple overtank T5 fixtures. I've had some good results on my nano planted tank with PC but not sure if they are as good for reefs.

My wife likes the ripple effect I've only ever seen with MH, can this be acheived with T5?

What would you guys use and how much

MH 150w?

T5 2,3 or 4 tubes?

PC, again how many tubes?


Thanks

Seb

[splateee]

I think a metal halide would be overkill for those types of corals. You could go with T5's or PC's. I would also think you would have heat problems with a metal halide. As far as how many tubes i would go with 2 tubes. If it is PC i would go with 50/50 bulbs. As for the T5's i am not familiar with them since i have never used them.

[mrSnoid]

I agree with splatee above --i would go with the t5
No you will not get the ripple effect with using pc or t5

[beetleseb]

Okay, so how many of the 22" 24W T5's would you recomend?

Seb

[rjrobert]

I wouldn't give up on MH's. They make 70watt MH's that might be perfect for your application. They don't give off heat as much as say the 250's or 400's.
I personally love that shimmer effect. I believe that is part of the beauty of reef aquairums. Don't get me wrong. I run t5's and PC but I run them on the Frag tank and Refugium.
Just my oppinion.

[AJ69]

stay with T5HO and you should be OK,don't get any pc (old technology)

[beetleseb]

Hi

Sadly I've never seen the 70W MH in the uk! Maybe a voltge thing, we're on 230V

There are 2 nice setups from arcadia over here one with 2x 22" T5 and one with 4, I assume the 4 is better?

Cheers

Seb