T5's or VHO

J

jammerz

Large Fish
#1
Feb 28, 2005
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#1
Just finishing up on a light hood for my 80g all i need to do is stain and install lights.

Im debating over T5's(compacts?) or VHO 94w 4 footers....

obviously im not to versed in lighting i realize that MH is preffered but i think i will wait on that. Im looking to be able to have stony and soft corals and lower light clams. Any ideas would be appreciated.

what could i expect the cost differece to be. I can get the ballast and end cap for the VHO's for $146 i think bulbs are realitivly inexpensive?

Fyi-this is the start of my research on light will be reading up just wanted to see what yall thought....
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
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#2
T5 and power compacts are different

VHOs are your best bet for SPS and clams if you do not want to get halides...it will be very difficult to get T5s to put out enough light

halides are really what you should get though for those organisms
 

J

jammerz

Large Fish
#4
Feb 28, 2005
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#4
what are the diffrences in T5's and power compacts?

could i maybe go with like 2 VHO and 1 MH? I am really worried about heat and i dont want i big burley fan, have A/C in the house for summer.dont want to buy a chiller.would i have to not use my aquarium heater? i'am aware of the little square fans i can install under the light hood but woul that be enough cooling for the MH/VHO combo?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
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#5
A pc is a bent tube T5. As it's bent it's hard to get a good reflector geometry for PC's , and the top quality reflectors available for T5 is one of their advantages.

T5's, watt for watt put out more usable light than VHO, but any of them can be made to work. I wouldn't buy VHO though - too costy in the long run.

For what you want you should stop messing around and go MH from the get go to avoid wasting your time, effort and money. You need to cost up the 3 year costs of 2 150 or 250 watt MH versus 8 VHO including changing all the VHO bulbs every 6 months.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#6
Dec 1, 2003
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#6
VHO are my personnal favorite. They give off a really nice bluish tint. They are expensive and can run hot, but i really enjoy the colors they give off.

Also I believe 4fters are 110watts.
 

J

jammerz

Large Fish
#7
Feb 28, 2005
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#7
So if i go MH should i do 2 bulbs and what watts what other ratings should i look for when researching wattage and MH output. What woul be best for my 80g, 48x18x6 hood? And would it be better to do a VHO/MH combo or one or the other?

What about cooling?..gets really hot here! dont really want a chiller. is it possible that i may have to take out my tank heater and just let the lights do the work?
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#8
Dec 1, 2003
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#8
There are a bunch of different combos you can use. If you do MH you should get two of them. I would say 175watt but you might want 250 or something higher. Depending on the Kelvin rating you may or may not need the VHO. For instance, a 14000k to a 20000k will have enough blue in it for you not to need the VHO. A 10000k will look a lot better if you get some actinic VHO bulbs. I would go to the LFS and see some different set-ups, seeing which you prefer.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#9
Dec 1, 2003
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#9
Oh...and youll need a few small fans to blow out the hot air. ANy new heater should have a built-in thermostat and it will go on only if the water will cool enough...so keep a heater or two in the tank.
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#14
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
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#14
If you're air conning your house down to 70 you probably won't need a chiller, but you almost certainly will want to get an autotopup, especially if you can't be with the tank every day.
I would say you're bordeerline between 175's (actually I'm more used to 150's) and 250's so I'd likely go up, especially if you want to keep clams. Also how clear is your water - are you running carbon....

HOWEVER - if you want to keep the MH in your hood, I think you have a problem. 6 inches is too close to the water surface in my opinion, I'd rather hang them from the roof about a foot or 15 inches away.
If you really want to put them in your hood you will need a fan, but I'd likely go T5 in that case.
 

NoDeltaH2O

NoDeltaH2O

Superstar Fish
#15
Feb 17, 2005
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#15
I'm a freshwater man myself, but have you ever considered OverDrivenNormalOutput flourescent lighting? I can take a 24" T-8 17-watt bulb and get almost 40 watts out of it. I have a 20gallon long tank with about 80-90 watts of lighting over it using 3 cheap standard flourescent bulbs that cost about $7 each and I have 2 ballasts that costs a whopping $8 each. Under $40 bought me 80-90 watts. Just a thought.

if you're interested there's a sticky in the DIY section on it
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#16
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
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#16
overdriving makes bulb life much shorter and the light output is not really in proportion to the amount of doubling up...that 17w bulb is probably getting you more like 25-30w...VHOs are basically overdriven NOs but the bulbs are designed to handle the extra wattage so they are a bit more efficient...the comparative electrical costs of running a hugenormous bank of overdiven NOs to a smaller bank of T5s, MH, or PCs definitely lean towards the PC/MH/T5 option as does heat generation...

furthermore, if he wanted to get 500w out of a dual metalhalide setup he can spend around $450 and there it is complete with actinic supplements...to do the same with overdriven NO is going to run him a little less (maybe) but where is he going to put 10 bulbs? add to that the need for some actinics as well and the hood is getting mighty (if not impossibly) cramped especially if you want any sort of effective reflector in there...

basically, the light requirements of most reef creatures make overdirven NOs a poor option
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#17
Jun 12, 2004
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#17
Het Jammerz i just got a 175w mw and it's 5 inches from the waterline, and attached inside the canopy. My canopy is opened in the back, but still it adds 3 degree compared to when i had neons only. I run 2x40w neons with the mh, cause my tank is 48 " too and the mh can't reach more than 3 feet when it's so close to the water. 175w and 20000k isn't powerful enough for a 48". Before i bought it, i said "yeah right, like it wouldn't reach 4 ft"...it's true. Dark corners. Go ahead with a 250. The best would be 2 mh..but $$$
Now if you want to get the heat out.Computer fans are quiet and don't heat. Can use it with a old pentium 1 power supply..With 14 watts of power, you can have 2 x 2.5 fans than can be installed under the canopy or trough it.
And yeah the 20000k is very beautifull but is less intense than a 10000 or 14000k. Seen the difference.
Anyways..i had to change my lighting and i would have cost me 140 $ CDN + taxes. A mh bulb is 80 $ CDN and i think i can it for less than that. So mh is cheaper on the long run. And the ripple effect on the rock is awesome.
Is you have a canopy, be sure that the ballast is separated from the lamp.
My balast is far away from my tank..or the heat added would be worse.
Another thing on mh : Stuff grows !! Yeah..compared to normal neons.
 

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#19
Jan 14, 2004
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#19
I am not a big fan of the watts per gallon theory, with alot of corals and inverts its about the intensity of the lights, like you could have 500 watts of regular t-5's and i wouldnt keep alot of the stuff that I would keep with 350 watt MH's, I really like the HQI MH there is a big difference between them and the regular MH's
 

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