My vote is for 150w HQI, but I may be biased :P

I'm all for the HQI as well.

I just figured since he was looking at the Vipers he was looking for a clip on. I think Vipers are clip ons, aren't they? So he would need to add actinics somehow. Well he wouldn't NEED to, but it sure would look nicer. Getting a fixture with a MH and actinics in it would be ideal. Depends on budget I suppose.

Like this :)
http://www.saltysupply.com/AquaPerfe...r-p/ap2244.htm

Or for those upgrades....

http://www.saltysupply.com/AquaPerfe...T-p/ap2264.htm

^ Ya I suppose if you have a bunch of money burning a hole in your pocket eh?! Haha!

Always a big fan of T5s. So many bulb combos and less heat issues. I have also found that my corals seem to pop out a little more with T5s (back to bulb combinations again) then under mh from experience of seeing and buying frags that were under mh first.

If I was absolutely pushed and heat was not a factor, Nothing beats 10k metal halides with vho actinics, you get the grow and the color pop. But you need a lot of actinics to make it viewable, to my eyes at least. You can always go 14k,15k,20k, some use even higher kelvin bulbs than 20k. But the growth from 10k is superb, the vho actinics if done properly tramp any t5 setup i've ever seen. But its not as practical for everyone.

I still say look at diff setups in person, if you think at anytime you may upgrade, keep that in mind as well :)

Has anyone used the LED lighting? i have never seen what they are like in a tank, but they have gone down in price right now for a 24" setup. Do they give off better light and colour as an HQI?

Opinions are like a holes,everyone has one and some are full of crap. I've heard some say led are the revolution some say they are no more than moonlights.

In short buy what you can afford and like the looks of