upgrading tank, ati or uvl t5s?

The ATI blue plus are excellent for the front and back of the tank. The ATI Aquablue is 12K and is a nice mix. The UVL Aquasun is a 10K pinkish bulb and like someone else mentioned will bring out the reds. I have a 4' and a 2' retrofit that's has 8 bulbs each. Besides 4 ATI blue+ and an ATI Aquablue and UVL Aquasun I also have a GE 6500K daylight and a UVL 75/25 (14K) purple. I'm still learning about T5's but I have softies and SPS corals that are thriving well in my 210 which is 29" high. Check out the video and pics.
YouTube - Awesome 210 Gal Reef Tank

 

wow marlinman your tank looks amazing.....but I guess I have to go for mh here don't it? 6x24 its only 144 watts. And I would have to stagger them. Should I just man up and get the mh fixture? I always hear people talking about icecap fixtures, so should I go for something like this IceCap 175W Metal Halide Retro Kit with Electronic Ballast - AquaCave and with what bulb. 14k or 20k? Also Im not familiar with halide bulbs. It comes with coralvue should I upgrade to the reeflux or the xm?

 

The 24" fixture you will only have 3" on each side without full light. If the pic you showed on the the original post is the final spot then don't get the 36". If you have the room get the 36" 4 bulb because the lights have more strength than the 24" model.

If you go MH use the coralvue at start then upgrade a few months to one of the other brands. 14K is a good bulb if not using actinics. If using actinics or blue bulbs go 10K.

 

ATI's are much better bulbs than UVL's. They look better and make more PAR as well.

 

2n10 your a great help you know that. I really wanted to stay with the t-5s because of the heat with a halide. The next question is how to build a hood that goes sideways instead of strait up, time to look for plans....