light upgrade?

[jody]

so it's around that time where iwant to upgrade my lighting or do something more with it,
i have
4x96 50/50 p.c
2x55 50/50p.c
total = 494 Watts p.c for a 120 gal
whats everyones take on

VHO-ive seen some awsome color in tanks from these lights
t-5- seems to me you can grow almost anything and their bright as hell
metal halides- well, i still think im not ready for them,

if anyone could tell me, what do you think the price of a 72 inch hood with adiquite lighting would be for
VHO-
t-5-
thanks to all for any help

[jody]

and if so does anyoen have any for sale ?
i am gearing allot towards VHO

[Invigor]

VHO-ive seen some awsome color in tanks from these lights
t-5- seems to me you can grow almost anything and their bright as hell


so...you can have nice color and high power consumption OR nice color, ability to grow lots, less power consumption for equal or higher output. hmm...

talk to quinster :D

[shroom]

Go T5 ...i LOVE mine :dance2:

[sphelps]

Bayside Corals will have new T5 fixtures in september, sounds like they will be a good price to, might be worth while to wait till the store opens and check out what he has.

[tango]

Just one word of advise . Do not buy 55 watt power compact corallife balsasts. While in winnipeg at saltwater connection I was talking to the the guy who owns the shop and he discontinued those from his store due to , too many house fire from falty cooling fans and a bunch on other reasons. JMO:yourock:

[jody]

so everyones saying t-5?
mayeb i can do a mix because i know the atinics on the VHO let off an incredible color alsmost like a pink!

[cary Henderson]

personally i'd keep the actinics and add a 250watt halide 10k....

[jody]

but metal halides dont they run up your power bill and get extreamly hot and have huge ballasts?

[Crumm]

If you're planning on fluorescents to save money, you won't save as much as you think, because you'll need more bulbs for coverage. Nothing beats the shimmer :)

We've got 4 TEK lights above our 90G, and I am actually amazed how much heat they do give off. Not as much as the 400W MH, but more than I thought they would.

[Quinster]

I am running 4 X 250W MH and 4 X 54W T5's under an open back canopy on my 180G with no chiller just 4 small CPU fans for air circulation...my house does have A/C but my tank never goes over 80 on the hottest summer day. Normally it sits around 76 - 78.

For your question about MH having huge ballasts, if you went with a Magnetic Ballast (Sunlight Supply) they are on the larger size, but electronic (Icecap) are relatively small 2" X 3.5" X 7"

HTH

Quinn

[jody]

well t-5 will work too, what should i use for my 33 gal reef, im gettign hardwood in my basement and im paintign it so i want it to be a bright tank

[cary Henderson]

if you compare your 500 watts of pc lights to 2x 250 watt mh lights they are exactly the same...500 watts are what you pay for....in both heat and light....
the heat/brightness of mh vs pc/t5 is just like fighting over which car is better... to each there own...after having pc and vho.. i now have pc and mh...and my tank thanks me for the mh every day!!!

[sphelps]

if you compare your 500 watts of pc lights to 2x 250 watt mh lights they are exactly the same...500 watts are what you pay for....in both heat and light....
the heat/brightness of mh vs pc/t5 is just like fighting over which car is better... to each there own...after having pc and vho.. i now have pc and mh...and my tank thanks me for the mh every day!!!

You couldn't be more wrong, it's about intensity not wattage, Halides have a much higher LUX than PC, therefore they put out more light per watt. Halides also penertrate the water better than any flourescents. T5's are the most effecient type of lighting as they have the highest LUX ratting, but running T5's is way more expensive than halides. PCs have a terrable LUX ratting and are really only good for Nano tanks as the bulbs are small enough to fit over small tanks.

Maybe I miss understood but 500W of PC is completely different than 500W of Halide.

[jody]

thats what i was thinking,
so would a 75 wat 10 k halide, and 1 75 watt vho actinic
be enough for a 33 gal>?

[Quinster]

It all depends what you want to keep...I am running 2 2' NO and 2 spiral PC on my refugium and can grow all kinds of soft corals, LPS and even had some acro frags in there for almost a year. Granted they were placed on racks and rocks according to their light requirements, but the acros were growing well enought to attach to the glass. The coloration of the SPS wasn't the best but everything else looks good.

[Ivy]

I'm going with T5s for my tank. I don't think they're more expensive to run than halides-halides need a much more powerful ballast and 'waste' a lot more electricity as heat than any fluorescent bulb. (I've got birds and I'd worry about them trying to land on the halide fixture. Not to mention melting my tank brace accidentally.)

That said, T5s don't shimmer. And point sources look more natural according to some people.
Ivy

[sphelps]

thats what i was thinking,
so would a 75 wat 10 k halide, and 1 75 watt vho actinic
be enough for a 33 gal>?

A 75W halide is pretty useless, you would be better with a 175 or even 250 as the cost is pretty similar. Use a 10K and run a VHO or T5 actinic. I prefer the combination of halides and T5s for reef tanks.

And Ivy Halides are cheaper, just think bulb replacment: one 400W halide bulb costs $80, to match that with T5s you'll need 10 or more T5s which run for at least $30 a peice for the good ones, due the math that's $300. Also you need more ballasts, reflectors for each bulb and the endcaps are expensive. T5s are nice but they are more expensive, and they still get hot, don't believe me? you can come feel mine, not just the bulbs either the ballasts get just as hot as the metal halide ballasts.

[jody]

how come 75' are useless?

and how high, wouldi have to keep a 75, or a 150,
i definetly dont want them meltign anythign or heatign my tank through the roof,

[Ivy]

And Ivy Halides are cheaper, just think bulb replacment: one 400W halide bulb costs $80, to match that with T5s you'll need 10 or more T5s which run for at least $30 a peice for the good ones, due the math that's $300. Also you need more ballasts, reflectors for each bulb and the endcaps are expensive. T5s are nice but they are more expensive, and they still get hot, don't believe me? you can come feel mine, not just the bulbs either the ballasts get just as hot as the metal halide ballasts.

Heh, true for large tanks, but Jody's talking about a 33g, which is the same size as my tank. 4 bulbs (156 watts) will juuuust barely fit , so 120$ plus for bulbs which last 2 years (though should be replaced yearly). A 75 watt metal halide would have much less than half the PAR as the 4 bulb T5s due to individual reflectors on the T5s, and would it work well? When I was mailing people about lighting they all said to go with 150.

Of course people should pick whatever bulbs they like. :)
ivy (up late)

[jody]

alrighti love all the advise, i find 75's are hard to find, i may go with 175, i dunno if soemoens sellign o nthe site i will see, i dotn feel like goign fro ma website,

[Invigor]

alrighti love all the advise, i find 75's are hard to find, i may go with 175, i dunno if soemoens sellign o nthe site i will see, i dotn feel like goign fro ma website,


friends don't let friends type drunk.

[jody]

haha, , they all left me