I agree with you reefer bob. I have recently been reading a lot about T5 lighting and there is a guy name Sanjay out there who tests all different types of lighting. Anyway he found that MH have stronger initial par but since they have to be raised so high above a tank due to heat issues they lose a lot of that initial par most of the time before they even hit the water. Another thing is they are point intensive so yeah you might get more penetration than T5s but only right under the light while T5s give you an even distribution. Another thing is that from what I have read in Europe most people are moving from Metal Hallides to HO T5's and its not like their tanks are uglier than ours. I think there is a big problem in saying that MH is the best lighting out there because really its not.
But this is just my opinion which I came to from reading alot on the issue. The problem with finding a concrete answer on which lighting is the best is that there isnt one. All the T5 lovers say T5 is the best while all the MH lovers say MH is the best. Just like BMW drivers think their cars are better than Mercedes.
I am looking forward to finding some objective stuff on the issue, more tests like this Sanjay gentlemen is performing to come to a good conclusion.
Anyway thats my two cents
