VHO vs. Metal Halide (DUKE OUT)

[pwj1286]

If you had to choose ONE ligthing system (Metal Halide or VHO) for your reef tank, which one would you chose?

Consider all aspects: Pros and Cons

DUKE IT OUT!

List your reasons why!
(Support your claim(s) with fact or personal experience!)

 

[Anonymous]

Depends.

What animals am I wanting to keep?

MH is the all around winner IMO but VHO is awesome for LPS and softies.

 

[K9coral]

Metal Halide IMO. Everything can adjust to it.

 

[LA-Lawman]

metal halide.... especially for deep tanks...

 

[jandree22]

One might say, well VHO creates a better bang for the buck and it's all I can afford. However, that's not true once you sit down and crunch the math. By the book, you need to replace VHO bulbs twice as often as MH, so this adds up over time. Therefore your cost eventually equals out and even becomes more expensive for VHO.

On top of that, MH puts out a much better quality of light than VHO. I myself have never owned MH to this point, but I'm so envious of the cool MH ripple effect that is impossible with any flourescent. :lol:

Fact of the matter, if you're serious about setting up a powerful and versatile reef for the long term, the only way to go is MH. No regrets with MH.

 

[fungia]

metal halide all the way! i tried pc and vho. they give great color and my corals were very beautiful with them but they would only light the top half of my tank. i could only keep lps and soft corals on the bottom half. metal halide i can keep most corals anywhere i want. i also like the glimmer effect. it is also not much hotter then a bunch of pcs which surprised me.

 

[sslarison]

MH hands down.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe, Len will chime in about T-5's. From everything I have seen they are the most cost effecient and capable of supporting most anything.

 

[minibowmatt]

Well, I would use both, but since I'm not allowed to chose both, I would say MH.... Everything can grow under it, it does have better bulb life, cool ripples, more punch, and you get to say to all the PC/VHO people... "You should switch to MH!"

 

[Rob Top]

If I could only have 1 type, it's MH all the way. I like to add a few pcs to the mix, but you can do it all with just MH

 

[Anonymous]

MH. The ripples are the best. VHO's do have great color, particularly the URI bulbs.