little soprano
New member
Hello! My BF and I picked up a used 125 Gallon tank. It's probably around 100 with the wet-dry in the back.
The canopy it came with has 2 5 foot VHO 6500k bulbs mounted with a Coral Vue 660 Ballast. The wiring harnesses were a complete disaster so we cleaned them up with wire sleeves, and cleaned up the two fans that are on each side of the canopy. As nice as it is to have lighting come with the tank, both of us are very unfamiliar with VHOs. Aside from the fact 5 foot bulbs will probably be a pain in the butt to find, I really would like to re do the whole setup. We made it workable, but if anything I'd like to get some extra lighting in the canopy, if not do away with the current lighting completely.
The tank is 5' long, 2' tall, and 20" deep. Some of the depth is compromised by the wet-dry in the back, but not by much.
On my planted freshwater tank I run 2 54 Watt T5HO bulbs (40 long), and due to my familiarity with them, I'm looking to add some bulbs in to the current tank.
Are standard HO T5s good enough PAR wise? I personally would like to eventually get into some beginner level corals down the road, but we haven't gotten there yet, still in the planning stage. I'd rather have the ability to provide lighting for more advanced corals (can you tell I'm a beginner LOL), then to cut ourselves short, and have to mess with the lighting again.
What are the recommended bulb temperatures for a reef tank? If I keep the two VHOs, I was thinking of a 10k bulb, a 18k, and I have no idea where to go from there. Is it worth keeping the VHOs? Or is it just easier to retrofit the canopy with something better? The canopy does match the tank stand, so I would like to make it so the lighting fits inside.
Thank you in advance!
-little soprano
The canopy it came with has 2 5 foot VHO 6500k bulbs mounted with a Coral Vue 660 Ballast. The wiring harnesses were a complete disaster so we cleaned them up with wire sleeves, and cleaned up the two fans that are on each side of the canopy. As nice as it is to have lighting come with the tank, both of us are very unfamiliar with VHOs. Aside from the fact 5 foot bulbs will probably be a pain in the butt to find, I really would like to re do the whole setup. We made it workable, but if anything I'd like to get some extra lighting in the canopy, if not do away with the current lighting completely.
The tank is 5' long, 2' tall, and 20" deep. Some of the depth is compromised by the wet-dry in the back, but not by much.
On my planted freshwater tank I run 2 54 Watt T5HO bulbs (40 long), and due to my familiarity with them, I'm looking to add some bulbs in to the current tank.
Are standard HO T5s good enough PAR wise? I personally would like to eventually get into some beginner level corals down the road, but we haven't gotten there yet, still in the planning stage. I'd rather have the ability to provide lighting for more advanced corals (can you tell I'm a beginner LOL), then to cut ourselves short, and have to mess with the lighting again.
What are the recommended bulb temperatures for a reef tank? If I keep the two VHOs, I was thinking of a 10k bulb, a 18k, and I have no idea where to go from there. Is it worth keeping the VHOs? Or is it just easier to retrofit the canopy with something better? The canopy does match the tank stand, so I would like to make it so the lighting fits inside.
Thank you in advance!
-little soprano
