A friend told me to consider MH

I was looking at getting a 24" T5 96 watt unit. My friend suggests going metal halide. I'm worried about heat issues. I'm aware of the Viper lights they sell. Any other suggestions? My tank is 16 gallons. 20x13x16

 

Buffalo, NY. Only gets hot in the summer, No AC usually just fans. My PC lights would raise temps to 84. Would cool with small a small bag of ice every hour

 

Can you get a window air conditioner for that room?

 

Get the best of both worlds if your budget alllows, t-5 ,Mh combo light hood. I just got one and love the new light in the tank.

 

We have AC I just don't like it. I was looking at these two fixtures. The only hardcoral I'll have is candy cane coral that my buddy is donating.

24" 96 Watt 4 t5's
Aquarium Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Systems: Nova Extreme Compact SLR T-5 Fixtures


Aquarium Lightings - Metal Halide Light Fixtures - Free Gift with Light Fixture Purchase

I could do the AC unit, but not intersted in the extra cost.. evn though this is a costly hobby.

 

I would do the T5, bulbs will last around 18 months and will run cooler. Only thing that really bothers me with the nova is the lights that they come with really aren't that great. Haven't heard a lot of good reviews about the aqua trader stuff

 

go with T5's you can keep just about anything and will rarely have heat issues if any, im going to get T5's with my next paycheck hopefully, i miss those lights!

 

Aquatraders is just fine, no issues and your only going to run into hard-core people complaining about them.

I own two of the lighting setup's from aquatraders now and they blow the socks off the crap the LFS's around me are trying to sell at 2x the price.

I live in arkansas and the temp in the house is about 68 year round.. (computer guy and I like it cool) ..

I purchased:
Aquarium Lightings - Metal Halide Light Fixtures - Free Gift with Light Fixture Purchase

This last week and it's setup on the frag tank that my wife and I started building. No complaints yet, if anything, I'm more happy with it than the 1x150w HQI Current USA Metal Halide Fixture

that my LFS loaned me (while they tried to get me to buy it at 2x the price as the system from aquatraders)

..

GL!
-Fritts

 

I'm gonna switch out the bulbs with uvl or Giesman.. after my corals get used to the better lights. stock bulbs have to be better than my stock PC's