Current Lighting Options for 24" Tank

[kzoobenjamin]

I have been out of the hobby for about 5 years and have recently purchased a 26G Aqueon Bow Front that I am going to make into a reef tank. I'm a little out of touch with what the best solution(s) is/are for lighting these days. Back then, VHO's were plentiful and worked quite well and T5's were new on the market and weren't available in very many colors. Now it seems that the T5's are quite a bit more popular and perhaps watt-for-watt brighter (?). I already have a few icecap 430's and endcaps for VHO's. Should I stick with VHO, or can I use the 430's on T5's?
I would like to keep mostly zoos, some green star polyps, maybe some SPS. Does anyone have any recommendations on how well this would work for a tank that deep, or what bulb combination I should go with? In the past I would have done 2x 10k and 2x actinic.
Benjamin

 

[flower]

Just saying hello and welcome to the site...I always go with MHs a pendant clip on would work.

 

[meowzer]

Welcome to SWF....How deep is the tank?
On my 29G I have Sundial 4 bulb T-5 set-up and keep sps, lps, zoas, shrooms, a clam.....etc

 

[kzoobenjamin]

Thanks for the input. It is about 20 inches from the bottom glass to the waterline, but of course I will have a few inches of sand and some LR on top of that. All other things being equal though, it is about 2 inches deeper than your 29G. What bulbs do you use on your sundial? I have not completely ruled out MH, but for heat and bulb life purposes am strongly leaning towards T5.
Benjamin