Hows this sound for lights.

[eyebedam]

This is what im thinking about for the lighting set up on the 180. Ive been talking with hello lights & heres the set up
Here you go.
3 - 250W HQI retrofit Kits

2 â€"œ 36” 2x39W Tek T5 Retrofit kits w/ lamps

3 â€"œ 250w HQI 10K UHSIO lamps
I may possibly go witht he 14 k instead. Does anyone else have any other suggestions? Im not 100 percent sure what all corals I plan to be keeping but I dont want to be limited by light.

 

[c_stowers]

I've been researching lighting for my new 120. What I have found is that if you plan on going with the Ushio 10K's you probably have the best bang for you buck. However, if you looking at running 14K's, you should look into an e-ballast because you will likely get more par and you will have a better bulb selection. E-ballast are more expensive, but if your planning on running 14K's, they may pay for themselves in lower energy usage and better par.

 

[c_stowers]

I would also go with VHO supplementation. T5's produce less heat, but IMO, you just can't beat the look of VHO actinics.

 

[gflat65]

I love the VHO look, myself (as supplementation). I love my 14K Phoenix's, too on the 250W DE's. Great color. Not too much blue with VHO's, either, IMO.

 

[fishdoc11]

I would go with SE's ( I really like my SLS RO III(I think, the SE ones)) retrofits but that's just what I feel is more predictable and I trust a few of those traditional lamps, like Ushio 10K's, AB's, Radiums etc... to produce good color in SPS.
I would go with 3 250 MH's and either 2 or 3 6' VHO atinics (UVL superatinics) If you go with T5's I would also use the UVL superatinics.
If you are thinking you might switch to 14 or 20K's and use SE's at some point definately go with electronic ballasts. The only way I would use HQI's on single end is if you wanted to overdrive Radiums, which I have been tempted to do but I don't want to change out bulbs every 6 months

JMO, Chris

 

[DMBillies]

I had a look at Jack's T5 UVL superactinics and they look very comparable to my VHO UVL superactinics (otherwise our light set-ups are almost identical). To me, it's a toss up. I only used the VHO's because they came with the hood I bought (so there was no real rhyme or reason...although at that time, UVL didn't have a t5 superactinic).

 

[c_stowers]

I kinda thought differently DMBillies. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of Jack's T5 actinics, but they looked like a lighter blue than the VHO superactinics. I think it just depends on what your looking for. VHO actinics are a very bold blue...whereas IMO the T5 actinics are a lighter blue, more similar to what you would see out of PC actinics.

 

[DMBillies]

Chris- Hmmm... I'd agree that most of the T5 actinics that I have seen do look a lot like PC actinics and have the light blue you describe (e.g., the TRU actinics I got for free with my new TEK retros). Quite frankly, I agree that these "pale" in comparison to the VHO superactinics... pardon the pun. However, Jack had a UVL T5 superactinic (among other of the more pale actinics) that I thought was comparable... it gave you that freaky lines in front of your eyes feel when you looked at the bulb which I've only ever experienced with the VHO superactinics before. I guess we can settle this at the meeting since Jack is hosting

 

[KAiNE]

I have both the VHO URI superactinic (reef) and the HO T-5 Actinics (fowlr). The VHOs are a much, much deeper blue.

FWIW-
Over my reef, I have 3 SE 250w on electronic ballists and 4 6' Actinic VHO's. I have used 10K xm's (bit yellow for me), 10K Ushio's and 10K Reeflux. I am currently running reeflux on the outsides and Ushio in the middle. I like both about equaly. I do not run anything between bulb and water and bulbs are about 9"-10" above the water.