Lighting for 28 gal bow front

[Delmarr]

Hello all:

Ive been reading as many posts as I can find and have found alot of great info but still have a few questions before I set up my newest small reef.

I will be using a 28 Gal Bow front. 24" x 16" x 18"

The tank has a center brace so I am thinking a HQI set up is out of the question. I could get a 26 gal bow front which does not have a brace but do not like the hight (21") I am considering replacing the center brace with glass, clear plexi or cable but still dont think having a 150 HQI dead center over the moded brace would be a good idea.

I am planning to keep SPS so this will be a high light environment.

My pan at this point is to go with a 4 bulb T5's fixture.
My question is whether the HO fixtures which run the bulbs at 24watts will be enough or should I build a system with an Icecap 660 ballast to drive the bulbs at 40 watts each.

I will be using high quality individual reflector in eigther case so that should not be a determining factor.

I have over 10 years experience with both nano and larger reef systems and have run MH on my larger sps system so am fimilar with the benifits of MH. What I am unfamiliar with is T5s

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Delmarr

 

[Delmarr]

Anyone??

 

[Delmarr]

Really?

 

[MikeyZO]

I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to lighting, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if you can successfully build a T5 HO fixture on your own, it will probably be better and more specific to the tank you want to keep. However, that being said, a 28 gallon is not all that large, and if you can find a good T5 HO fixture that has at least 4 bulbs (2 day + 2 actinic) or better yet 6 bulbs, you could probably get away with it and keep SPS successfully.