lighting question

[TWINPEAKS]

I considering redoing my lighting and was going to go with vho's.I have a six foot tank would you buy 4 six foot bulbs or eight 3 foot bulbs?Pros/cons?

 

[DrBDC]

No real difference. I guess there would be a slight decrease in intensity right where the ends meet at in the middle but not enough to really matter. So just add up bulb and ballast options and go with the best deal. Remember on the bulb price differences about bulb change frequency. Add up what a few years of running them would be and take the best deal.

 

[geoxman]

Why not go with t5's instead of VHO? Just an idea? Are you using an icecap 660?

 

[Im Lon 2]

Replacement time would be a big difference Price of bulbs are not that much different when it comes to size.. 4*xx or 8*xx..

I would like to change my setup to T5's.

 

[Im Lon 2]

oops!! got a little happy finger going on! Double Post

 

[DrBDC]

For that actinic color "pop" I'd highly recommend at least 1 pair of VHO's. I had the pc actinics and they were fair. Then I did a pair of T5 actinics and there was almost none, I mean zip actinic glow. They really suck on actinic. Great on color choice in general though as you can tailor make your bulb combination and they are moderately bright. Then I went back to old school vho superactinics and it's the best by far with none of the others even close.

 

[TWINPEAKS]

I want to go with vho for the color,just couldn't decide on the length except you get hit for over size on the shipping on 6 foot bulbs.Right now my pc's are on workhorse 5 ballasts I just need to see if they will drive the VHO's.

 

[Im Lon 2]

I have my 4' bubls staggered over the tank and I cannot tell when looking at the tank.

 

[DrBDC]

A lot of shiny chrome domes in that pic! :lol:

 

[Im Lon 2]

Yeah sorry didn't mean to scare anyone :lol:

 

[Baron]

I would not go with the 6' due to getting replacements and the shipping cost involved. I have them now and keep thinking of switching to multiple shorter length bulbs for that reason alone. Seems no one likes to ship the 6' with out charging an arm and a leg.

My 2 cents.

Brad

 

[Im Lon 2]

Wow! Didn't notice how high the price jumps from 3' to 6' bulbs. I have never looked at the 6' bulbs, but knew the 18" vs 48" bulbs was not that much of a difference maybe 2 bucks..

 

[DrBDC]

At premium, 36's are 18.50, 72's are 29. You pay 10 more for the shipping. So if you bought 8 36's it would be 163 after shipping. For 4 72's it would be 141 after shipping. Then figure doubling the cost of endcaps.