VHO lighting?

[firebirdcrzy]

Hello all, I just bought a 90gal rr (48Lx18Wx24T) setup this weekend for an unbelievably good price. The system is setup with a retro 4 46.5" t-12 VHO 110watt bulbs running off a icecap ballast. Currently there are mushroom and polyps growing everywhere. I realy would like to start getting into keeping a mixed reef with sps corals. Would this lighting be sufficient for this or should I start looking into a MH retro? If the VHO would be sufficent what bulb combo would work the best?

[Corndork2]

Id have to reccomend upgrading your lighting if youre interested in sps. They need a higher quality light which MH or T5 will produce marvelously. You can use youre existing VHO's for some great actinic supplementation though :)

[jafish26]

I totally disagree with corndork2 sorry. If you want the colors like totm then yes mh or t-5 are recommended but imo they don't need higher quality of light just keep your water in check and keep ontop of your tank and it reachable here is my tank with a 660 watt ice cap with 4 bulbs i get great growth color could be better but to me not worth the 200 dollar a month electric bill lol
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/jafish26/movingtank029.jpg

[MileHighFish]

I think VHO works well I use it to supplement my MHs. . I think there is a lot of coral that can do just fine under VHO only, it might take a bit more acclimation and position corals higher up in the tank but it can be done. If you add 250's to your set up you wouldnt have to question what you can keep.

[budbreak96]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14355644#post14355644 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jafish26
I totally disagree with corndork2 sorry. If you want the colors like totm then yes mh or t-5 are recommended but imo they don't need higher quality of light just keep your water in check and keep ontop of your tank and it reachable here is my tank with a 660 watt ice cap with 4 bulbs i get great growth color could be better but to me not worth the 200 dollar a month electric bill lol
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/jafish26/movingtank029.jpg

I love it. Tank looks awesome.. I really want some cap.

I just wonder how anyone ever kept a reef tank before t5s and mh. I mean everyone just has to have mh or t5 but before these im pretty sure people kept nice really nice reef tanks with vho. I know some old timers in my area that have some really nice reef tanks and they are running vho's.

[cdbias2]

I run 2-250w HQI's and 2-110w VHO's on a 90g and it works pretty good. It's not near too much light.
I use a hamilton fixture. (been going strong 4 years)
I will say, at this point, that if I were to buy the fixture now - I may go with the T5's instead of the VHO's.

[cloak]

I think those T5's are a play on VHO's. They always seemed to come associated with individual reflectors. Wonder what this might have been like with a mirror behind it...

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w16/jAb83_2007/lights.jpg

JMO.

[cdbias2]

2-250w HQI's uses almost the same electricity as 4-110w VHO's dont they?
500w vs 440w. The HQI's will punch at least twice as deep into the water.

[NirvanaFan]

440W of VHO is plenty of light to keep 99% of corals. Give me a few minutes and I'll upload a couple pics of my tank.

[jafish26]

your lookin at what another 60 watts? well with electric prices going up your lookin at another 30 to 50 a month then on top of it you deal with the heat which adds a chiller which is a minium of 30 a month it adds up quick also bulbs are alot more just don't see the point unless im doing a montster tank that im going to put some high end sps in i think its a great enough ecomplishment to say i live in south dakota which is pretty much as far as you can get from the ocean and i have a reef in my livin room..

[NirvanaFan]

If you have 2x250w MH, you're going to have to supplement them with some PC, VHO, or T5. You're looking at another 108 watts, at least, on a 4' tank. Now you're not at 500w anymore, you're at 608 (50% more than the VHO).

Here is my tank pre-razor blade scraping.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t171/NirvanaFan01234/2-9-09/DSC_0605.jpg

Here it is post scraping.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t171/NirvanaFan01234/2-9-09/DSC_0664.jpg

Note the platygyra, star polyps, colt, and kenya tree on the very bottom of the tank. If you look to the left of the platygyra, you can see some zoas spreading.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t171/NirvanaFan01234/2-9-09/DSC_0669.jpg

They're spreading on the glass. My plan is to have them cover all the bottom eventually. There is another colony of a different color on the opposite side of the tank. Also, in that zoa pic, note the monti cap that is actually growing at the very bottom of the tank.

[keith burns]

i ran that setup in my 75gal for 3y and loved it

[firebirdcrzy]

WOW!! thanks for all the info and some really great pics. I will probably stick it out with the VHO's for now and see what happens. I have been running a 30 gal for about 9 months now with the nova extreme 4x 39 watt t-5 with gieseman bulbs, 2x miday 2x actinic+ and have been managing to keep 1sps (green digi), zoas, and polyps with everything flourishing. Big change after getting rid of the current USA bulbs the nova came with. I have noticed a difference in the brightness of the t-5 (156 watt)over the VHO (440 watt), but I do know it is almost time to replace the VHO bulbs. Any suggestions on a bulb setup for the VHO's

[jafish26]

my tank above has 3 super atinic and one atinic white t-12 thats it like i said just stay ontop of your tank no need to go overboard it can be done... I also know a guy that has a 75 gallon full sps no skimmer and like 600 gph flow and thats it trust me it blows my mind still lol. Everytime i get into these which lights would be better talks all you have to think about is there were reef tanks before mh and t-5s came out its just vho is "a thing of the past" i guess but hey it works for me

[jenglish]

I think the only real issues w/ VHO is shorter life Vs. T5, lack of color choices and the fact that it is sort of a technology on its way out so parts and bulbs may get harder to find in the next few years and subsequently more expensive. THat being siad I have seen VHO actinics that gave a glow that I have not seen T5HO or PC match. my .02

[firebirdcrzy]

Anyone know where I might locate a 6 or 8 lamp t-5 retro where I could controll the actinics and daylights separetly for the dusk dawn effect? That is one of the big things I like about the nova extreme fixture, is being able to just run the actinics before turning on the daylights.

[cdbias2]

jafish26
You sound like a 60 watt bulb cost $50 a month to run in SD?
FYI - I was running a 4' PC fixture on my 90g and switched to a Hamilton fixture (2-250w HQI's and 2 110w VHO's) with internal fans and lowered my tank temp by 4 degrees.

Budbreak96
Nice sps growth

10 years ago, VHO's were the bulb of choice and many people had good success. HQI's didn't exist.

[jafish26]

congrats on lowering your tank wish I could do that the pumps you run skimmers powerheads all that comes into play with heat. also was your tank upstairs or downstairs the temp of the room also effects the temp of the tank

[jafish26]

also the pic Budbreak96 reposted was my tank but thanks for the comment I get ok growth

[cdbias2]

Upstairs tank is the 90g.

I also got rid of the mag drive the same weekend and replaced it with a QuietOne. so, I really cant give the light all the credit.
My point really was that I had the exact assumptions on lighting and tank heat. I believe the fixture with the internal fans is the key.
Without those fans (ie; DIY) - I think I could make that water hit 95.

I only run my HQI's for abou 6 hours a day and the actinics (2-110 VHO's) about 9 hrs.
I personally would love to have 4 VHO's in that fixture with the HQI's. I couldn't handle 2 more HQI's. My HQI's are 14k and my VHO's are pure actinic.
One thing I've read is that you get more light(par) out of a white light instead of a blue light of the same wattage. So, if you claiming to run 2 -110w bulbs but they are both actinic, it's not quite fair to compare to 2-110w 10k bulbs. Although people claim blue is the most beneficial.
It all makes since cause we all know white is brighter.

Do any of you use the VHO bulbs with the internal reflector? I bought them last time and I'm not sure I can tell a difference.

[NirvanaFan]

I've only used the ones with the internal reflectors. I use 3 actinic white, and 1 super actinic (blue).

[NirvanaFan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14358996#post14358996 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jenglish
I think the only real issues w/ VHO is shorter life Vs. T5, lack of color choices and the fact that it is sort of a technology on its way out so parts and bulbs may get harder to find in the next few years and subsequently more expensive. THat being siad I have seen VHO actinics that gave a glow that I have not seen T5HO or PC match. my .02


VHOs will be around for a while. you can find T12 hardware at any hardware store. I don't think bulbs will be harder to find either. Many people believe VHO actinics are superior in color and output to T5 and PCs

[robot2222]

you can also just change the endcaps buy individual reflectors and change vho to t5 . there is more par value too t5s than vhos.

[jafish26]

i run all internal reflectors also i have heard the opposite that blue is stronger then white but who knows now days

[cdbias2]

I think it goes like- white is brighter but blue travels deeper down into the water. I think blue is stronger for coral growth.

[PattersM]

I use the ones with the internal reflectors also.

I use two white and two actinic, but am looking at adding another white and some moon LEDS.

Plan to put the actinics on before and leave on later than the whites to give some sort of dawn / dusk feel.

Using VHO because the second hand tank I bought had them and in a few years MH will likely be starting to be replaced once LED's are improved and the cost starts to drop.

Looking forward to cold, low power, high penetration LED's with ten year lives !!!

[cdbias2]

For the time being - LED's are non-existent. PFO closed their doors this week due to patent infringements.