Why wouldn't I go VHO over t5 HO lighting?

[duncangweller]

Hi All,

As my new build continues and I have finally come down to the lighting part of things, I am still a little confused as to what I need.

So here goes......I have read various posts about 3-5 watts per gallon for soft corals, which is what I would like to keep. But of course, the depth of the tank comes into play so its not a solid, fail proof number to go by.

I have been looking at bulbs and reading about various colour combinations to get desired effects and to show the best of your fish and corals, but as i look at prices for bulbs, there isn't a giant difference between the prices of T5 HO bulbs vs T12 VHO. Further, from what I can see, the ballasts needed to run either lights seem to run at the same sort of cost as well.

I can understand that VHO may be overkill for just softies, but I never know, as time progresses I may want to sneak in the odd more demanding coral and perhaps VHO would suffice in that regard.

So my question is.....why wouldn't I just fork out the little extra for the VHO bulbs or is there a reason why T5 bulbs would be better? Also, I am interested to know what colour combinations would be good. I do like a little on the blue side but nothing to major.

The ballast that I have been guided towards is: CoralVue VHO 120VAC 60Hz 660 Ballast

Is this right or is there something else I should be looking at?

My tank is a 75 gallon (48L x 20H x 18D)

Thanks for all your help,

Duncan

 

[ritter6788]

T5 bulbs have individual reflectors that focus the light down into the tank. I've never used VHOs but the color combos of t5 that you can put together is amazing. I'd recommend going with t5 with ATI bulbs. Great, proven par on these bulbs.

 

[Steelerfan747]

Hey Duncan. If you are in the area of 5 watts per galon you could pretty much keep anything you want. Softies do not require lighting that strong but like Ritter, I too would recommend t-5's. The color combos will be much nicer and you could grow anything including sps ith them. I know your looking into softies but you never know down the line and you will already be set

 

[duncangweller]

thanks for the info ,

can you recommend any particular colour combos? Im edging towards a little blue but nothing too crazy.

Dunc

 

[mojo]

With the reflectors on t5 bulbs you can get you quite a bit more par.. plus you can pack them in pretty tight with reflectors only 2 in wide. you can get more par with about half the wattage. a 4 ft t5 bulb is 54 watts where as the 4 ft VHO is 110W. So you waste more power and create more heat.

With all those advantages going to T5, The VHO super actinics are still really hard to beat. if I were to run a vho 4 bulb combo I would run 2 vho super actinic 03, 1 454 blue, and 1 aqua sun.

For t5 its a matter of taste. There are so many bulbs. from just a 50 50 combo of ATI blue plus and aquablue specials. To blue plus , super actinic, and aquablue special. to the highest par 4 bulb t5 would probably be 2 blue plus , 1 purple plus, and 1 ge 6500. You can alter those to get the color you want. Dont forget that the ballast you have is the ICE cap 660 replacement. THat ballast would overdrive the t5 bulbs giving you shorter life and greater heat. So it would be wise to make sure you have good cooling to compensate for that.

 

[duncangweller]

Wow wee! thanks for that mojo. Is there a ballast that you would recommend? Someone just slipped that ballast into a convo when I was at the LFS. Are 4 bulbs recommended for my size tank?

thanks again folks,

Dunc

 

[Steelerfan747]

thanks for the info ,

can you recommend any particular colour combos? Im edging towards a little blue but nothing too crazy.

Dunc

That would depend on which fixture you use and how many bulbs you would be housing. I have a 6 bulb fixture and use 4- 460nm, 1-650nm roseatte and a 6500k. Together it gives it a 15k look that I like a lot

 

[uriah]

VHO gets hotter than T5 and the bulbs take up more space. The VHO bulbs already have a built in reflector. Personally I just switched to LED and its way better than any other fixture (IMO). Low heat, energy efficient, high par output, bulbs dont last up to 10 years... All the way around better fixtures. A little more expensive, but if you are going to stay in the hobby, definitely worth it. I found a site that hase some awesome deals on LED lighting (alibaba.com). They escrow your payment and dont release it until you get your shippment and are satisfied.

 

[duncangweller]

thanks for all the info,

I have decided I am going to go for a 4 T5 HO set-up with 2x UVL Super Actinics and 2x Giesmann Powerchrome Aquablue +

Dunc