I totally agree with you that for polyps and shrooms, etc, metal halide may not be needed, but here are the benefits I see with Halides:
1. You can only like zoas, shrooms, leathers, etc for so long, then you can move on to LPS, SPS, Clams, and anemones with Halides, and where you can light a 20 with halides for $160, I think these options are worth the extra 40 bucks. Just take a look on Cherrycorals.com, fragglereef.com, vividaquarium.com, and zoanuts.com... most of their corals require metal halide, and they have some amazing stuff!
2. The overall look of a tank with MH lights on it is unrivaled, the clarity, the fish, and the shimmer all combine for an amazing tank!
3. Pretty much all places you buy coral from whether it be an online vendor or LFS (with the exception of petco) keeps their coral under Metal Halide. When a coral adjusts to lower light, it gets brown, and the coral can take months upon months to regain its color!
4. With all the technology pouring into the fish stores these days, your water conditions can be stable like the large tanks we used to incorporate stability with. With nano-sized skimmers, calcium reactors, lights, and powerheads, you are able to keep SPS, clams, and anemones in smaller tanks!
I dont disagree with you, but I don't personally believe that Metal Halide is pointless on a 20L tank.
Just my $.02
-LJ
1. You can only like zoas, shrooms, leathers, etc for so long, then you can move on to LPS, SPS, Clams, and anemones with Halides, and where you can light a 20 with halides for $160, I think these options are worth the extra 40 bucks. Just take a look on Cherrycorals.com, fragglereef.com, vividaquarium.com, and zoanuts.com... most of their corals require metal halide, and they have some amazing stuff!
2. The overall look of a tank with MH lights on it is unrivaled, the clarity, the fish, and the shimmer all combine for an amazing tank!
3. Pretty much all places you buy coral from whether it be an online vendor or LFS (with the exception of petco) keeps their coral under Metal Halide. When a coral adjusts to lower light, it gets brown, and the coral can take months upon months to regain its color!
4. With all the technology pouring into the fish stores these days, your water conditions can be stable like the large tanks we used to incorporate stability with. With nano-sized skimmers, calcium reactors, lights, and powerheads, you are able to keep SPS, clams, and anemones in smaller tanks!
I dont disagree with you, but I don't personally believe that Metal Halide is pointless on a 20L tank.
Just my $.02
-LJ
