Another Controversy: VHO vs. T5

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strikleebizness

New member
Reefkeepers!

I am a very new member, and have spent the last several days waiting to jump in and post my first thread. I have been struggling with the "heated" lighting issue. My soon to be 75 gal. reef tank has been cycling for about 3 weeks under 3x46.5x110W VHOs (IceCap 430). My hood has room for more lights, but I can't decide if I should use the remaining 4-6 inches for t5 or VHO illumination. I have been reading every last post in an attempt to fully understand and compare my options. I have yet to find a t5 set-up with an extremely narrow reflector (or internal reflector) that would allow me to maximize my vacant space. It seems to me that the consensus is T5 over VHO. With the little space I have I could get 220 watts (VHO)vs. 108W (T5), maybe 162W.

My goals:
several softies (I love mushrooms, esp. Ricordia)
LPS (hammers, brains, torches, bubbles)
...SPS???
I know I could do some montis and maybe a low light acro

I'm sure I'll get some mixed opinions, but please attempt to steer me in the right direction. Of course, money IS an issue. I clearly need another ballast. Keep in mind I already have the IceCap. BTW, whats the deal with ARO Ballast kits, why so cheap? (probably just that)

Thanks guys
 
I know if no one posts on this soon it is going to get lost in the shuffle. I am really having a hard time with this, any advice would be really appreciated.
 
T-5's seem to be the rave but I had a 75g mixed reef with 440 watts of vho and it did very well. I had mostly softies and a couple of bubble tip anemones... As for the ARO Ballasts they work fine. I used them for 2 years and had no problems with them at all.... Hope this helps....
 
All the mushrooms, lps and softies your mentioned would do great under VHO's. If you were going to go sps I would get the t5's with the individual reflectors.. I have had several tanks under VHO and had wonderful growth on all softies and LPS. I do all t5's now because they are cheaper, less heat and energy, and the bulbs last much longer than VHO.
 
So is there a way to get NARROW (2") individual reflectors for t5 bulbs? I would like to fit three bulbs in there. If I can only fit 2, I think that VHO would be a better bang.
 
You might have noticed that I just started a thread about light acclimation to t-5. I have a 75G under vho. I run an icecap 660 and an icecap 430. 2 110 watt aquasuns, 2 95 watt aquasuns, and 2 110 watt super actinics. That is alot of vho, and I'm switching 4 of the 6 bulbs to t-5 and keeping the vho actinics. (IMO no actinics come close to vho). If I were you, I would go with t-5's. Your softies don't need them, but more light demanding corals will benefit from them. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
The icecap will overdrive them to 80 watts each. So yes, you'll have 320 watts. It will reduce the bulb life but we're probably talking 12 months rather than 18....
 
I've had success with sps under 6 vho's. (but 4 were aquasuns and 2 were actinics). T-5's can keep anything as long as your tank isn't too deep. If you want to keep sps, high flow and pristine water quality are equally important.
 
These are the narrowest T5 reflectors I have seen at 2" wide.
They are probably not as good as Icecap SLR reflectors but they should still be very effective.

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1348


You can run a combination of VHO and T5 with the Icecap ballasts. An option is staying with two VHO Super actinics and adding T5's to fit the remaining space you have. Most reefers prefer the T12 UVL VHO super actinic to any T5 actinic but personally, I will take the extra output of an Icecap driven UVL T5 Super actinic over the VHO super actinic. But I am in the minority.
 
I have the standard 75...18 inches deep. I am serious thnking I will keep my IceCap 430 running 3 VHOs, and add an IceCap 660 with 4 t5s. With the overdrive this should give me about 650W total, does anyone know the PAR, or have a link to where I could find that info. What would be the best t5 bulbs? is URI a good company?
 
Your current tank configuration should suffice for keeping most LPS corals and softies. Being that your tank is so young, I wouldn't worry about any lighting changes or upgrade for about 6 months to a year. Just make sure you vent off the extra heat from the canopy.

After about a year, when you start keeping more difficult corals, you can upgrade your lighting to all T-5s or MH with VHO/T-5. You are fortunate in that you own an Icecap ballast. This allows you to reuse the ballast for the next lighting upgrade.
 
just so you know, some older icecap ballasts are not compatible with T5 and need to be upgraded. go to the icecap forums in the sponsor section to verify that yours is alright to use with t5
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11352445#post11352445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by strikleebizness
I have the standard 75...18 inches deep. I am serious thnking I will keep my IceCap 430 running 3 VHOs, and add an IceCap 660 with 4 t5s. With the overdrive this should give me about 650W total, does anyone know the PAR, or have a link to where I could find that info. What would be the best t5 bulbs? is URI a good company?
Click to expand...

Keeping 3 actinic VHO's and then adding 4 T5's with individual reflectors at standard HO wattages = 54 watts for 48" T5 (not overdriven on Icecap ballast) would be more than plenty of light to keep anything you wanted to in your 75 gallon. It would also use less energy, decrease heat and extend the life of the T5's relative to driving them with the Icecap ballast. I have no problems with running T5's on Icecap ballasts, I run two T5's that way myself. You just dont need it over your 75 gallon. 216 watts of T5 + 330 watts of VHO actinic is more than enough.
 
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