Lighting question

[Charlie97L]

where's the best place in the area or online to pick up a MH setup? my new 55 gallon tank setup i purchased yesterday (acrylic tank, sump, stand, the whole thing) has 4 VHO bulbs and an ice cap ballast... I think it'd like to just have one that mounts on the underside of the hood.

 

also, for a 55 gallon, would i need one MH bulb or 2?

 

Thanks!

Charlie

[JMsAquarium]

where's the best place in the area or online to pick up a MH setup?  my new 55 gallon tank setup i purchased yesterday (acrylic tank, sump, stand, the whole thing) has 4 VHO bulbs and an ice cap ballast... I think it'd like to just have one that mounts on the underside of the hood.

 

also, for a 55 gallon, would i need one MH bulb or 2?

 

Thanks!

Charlie

51240[/snapback]

 

I would go with two bulbs, either 175 W or 250 W but no higher W. Or better, I would go with a T5 setup for a 55 gallons.

[Gatortailale]

1) consider your budget & what corals you want to keep.

 

2) do you have any thoughts of upgrading your tank in 6 months to a few years?

 

3) other than blue ribbon koi/marine in manassas, not many other shop in va area with fair prices vs. online. [not sure of baltimore shops like exotic aquatics]

 

online - champion, premium, marine depot or hellolights.com all good prices.

 

With 4 vho's not sure what space is left in a 55 canopy. If no upgrade plans, look at T5 or 150 hqi. If you think you will get bigger tank in future, then might as well get 250w & you can use on your bigger tank in future. In 250w range, I like hqi. 400w range, mogul still best deal for that watt for now (hqi is here in 400, but limited bulb selection in 400's vs lots of 400 moguls)

 

hth

[Charlie97L]

1) consider your budget & what corals you want to keep.

 

2) do you have any thoughts of upgrading your tank in 6 months to a few years?

 

3) other than blue ribbon koi/marine in manassas, not many other shop in va area with fair prices vs. online.  [not sure of baltimore shops like exotic aquatics]

 

online - champion, premium, marine depot or hellolights.com all good prices.

 

With 4 vho's not sure what space is left in a 55 canopy.  If no upgrade plans, look at T5 or 150 hqi.  If you think you will get bigger tank in future, then might as well get 250w & you can use on your bigger tank in future.  In 250w range, I like hqi.  400w range, mogul still best deal for that watt for now (hqi is here in 400, but limited bulb selection in 400's vs lots of 400 moguls)

 

hth

51245[/snapback]

 

ok, thanks for the feedback... i probably will upgrade in a few years when i get my house. i'm planning on pulling out the vho's entirely, and going with a MH/some actinic for color.

 

thanks for the help guys, if anyone has anything else to add, toss it in.

[fishface]

Thoughful reply:

I was about to reply here because I just bought a ballast kit from Hello lights. I thought that it's a T-5 ballast. So I panicked after seeing my e-mailed invoice and realized it's a VHO. Turned out to be a fine choice.

Ian at Hellolights was very helpful. I asked him to compare the two, so it applies to your setup.

 

He clarified that the 48" VHO bulbs put out 110w each, and the Actinic -03 bulb is the best for coral growth and visual flourescence. The T-5's are most effective when you configure them with the individual reflectors. For example you can fit 6 over a 18" wide tank. They are 54w, but with the individual reflectors they are more efficient than vhos. And you can taylor the light properties when mixing a variety of bulbs since you are using 6. (This doesn't apply to your case now, but maybe later on when you revisit this on a bigger tank.)

That's just one persons opinion.

 

In my experience though with a 75 gal tank with 2x 250w MH HQI pendants, I was still overheating the tank in the summer if the aircon set back to save power and allowed the room temp to go over 75. I just had to keep cooling at a constant tempurature. -I probably never saved electricity anyway.

 

But I understand that many reefers are using vho's and keeping clams and acros successfully. Use the search feature on the wamas forums for more information. You may find that you stay with the vho's, just add more. The posted thread on the PAR meter would answer your question on which light setup would work best in practice.

 

FF

[Charlie97L]

fishface, thanks for your great input and suggestions... i will contact ian when i figure out what my tank setup is going to be.

[victorh]

You can hook up T-5's to the IceCap you already have.