Actinic questions...

[fragaholic]

Currently running 2x 65watt PC actinics to suppliment my 250watt aqualine buske 10k halides. I get good growth which I attribute to the halides but the color of my sps could be better. Everyone in the SPS forum raves about VHO uri actinics and how they make thier sps colors really pop.
I was thinking about ditching the pc's and throwing in 2 95 watt VHO uri's. My question is would this really make a difference in color over the pc's. I dont want to go with bluer bulbs for my halides cuz most of my sps are frags and need to grow.

Would it be worth the switch? Im asking cuz it would be cheap to do. Unless anyone has an old ballast lying around

-thanks

 

[fragaholic]

Edit** Would NOT be cheap**

 

[fragaholic]

Guess theres no sps guys around here that run VHO uri's... oh well...

I dont have a lot of experiece with these ballasts but would this one run 2 36'' lamps?

http://hellolights.com/2laaroasbaki.html

Says will run two VHO lamps up to 48" in length. But is that total length of bulbs together. If not sounds like a good deal.

 

[Pico1]

I say go with T5 antinics. MH and T5 get the best reviews as far as I've heard. Get the best of both worlds by using both. LEDs fixtures are starting to become popular as a main lighting source and I know that they have 420/460NM LEDs, but I don't know how they perform besides the bulb life.

 

[Justin74]

My votes witht the T5 as well. The ballast to run 2 36" bulbs can be done with workhorse 5, and cost generally about 25-30$ I have a powerchord if you need one to attach to it, youll need the ballast,chord, endcaps, and ideally individual reflectors, depending on the quality of the reflectors they can be bought from 5-20$ With all the parts needed for a 2 bulbs system you looking at about 100-130$ Be prepared though, 1 bulb and reflector is about the equivalent of both your PC bulbs.Ya, its that bright
Best supplimentation bulbs are blu+ by D&D Geismann or a bulb that just came out and getting good reviews(which I just ordered myself) are URI's new superactinic. Both these bulbs are much higher in PAR with a broader spectrum range than a pure Actinic 03 bulb.

-Justin

 

[fragaholic]

Thanks Justin! Never considered T-5's for even a second. From what ive read in the sps forum vho's always gets the majority of votes. I will do some more research. I would be saving on energy as well, 2 t-5's would be 78 watts compared to 2 vho's at 190 watts. Got any links for me? I can't find the new uri T-5's.

-thanks

 

[Justin74]

I would really love to see some intenisity measurements on a head to head comparison. Just from what Ive seen at the LFS though and in my honest and humble opinion I think there brighter. Brighter=Better?I cant speak on that because I personally havent tried VHO. I think the only advantage that most will agree on though is a properly installed T5 and quality bulb will last longer between replacements than a VHO.As well as there efficiency w/ space and wattage, especially when paird with an IceCap reflector or Aqualux reflector, with Tek reflectors right behind. And similarly priced.

To give you an idea as far as PAR theres been quite a few threads where various different testers have shown T5 to be slightly higher than your typical 250W MH bulb in an average 24" deep tank, even after a years use, I think one guy was even testing a 2year old T5 bulb if not more in age with super high result IIRC.

websights?
innovativelights.com
reefgeek.com
marinedepot.com

The top two are usually most compatitively priced. Theres more of a following with VHO becuase theyve been around alot longer and have proven results. For a while T5 just didnt have the actinic spectrums like VHO handsdown but thats changeing,

-Justin

 

[fragaholic]

Thanks!!!

 

[Underwaterparadise]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7729130#post7729130 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justin74
(which I just ordered myself) are URI's new superactinic. Both these bulbs are much higher in PAR with a broader spectrum range than a pure Actinic 03 bulb.

-Justin

LMK how you like those. I am thinking of switching out my MH for all T5's

Another vote for me on T5's. IME 250w of 20k T5's are brighter then 250w of 20k MH ( to the eye that is).

 

[Justin74]

Will do, seems like I heard that there suppose to be better than blue+ so Im looking foward to this, unfortunately the guy I ordered em from has it on backorder supposedly until thursday. Kinda sux about that, I did probably a days worth of researching prices,shipping, etc but ultimately forced to buy out of state due to taxes :/

-Justin