more VHO headaches

[Gary Majchrzak]

Thanks for suggestions.

Im not afraid to wreck anything with my own tools but... believe it or not... the problem is the time factor. I just dont have the time to sit and research the living crap out of stuff let alone work on my light hood.
Saturday morning is one of the few times in a week when I have time to futz with these lights so im sitting here with everything ripped apart

 

[tmz]

vho is a pain in terms of frequent repacement. It's getting harder to find replacements in stock too. I'm sticking with it for now on the sps display tanks .I'm not sure leds deliver the same spectrum and .or offer the same spread. I use some reefbrite led strips for extra pop along with them and halides. I've done that for years with good results. I have an led fixture which I intend to try on the lps dominant tank as a replacement for the halides and vho .

 

[Willistein]

Gary, I added an XHO blue Reefbrite strip to my 2x250 radiums and I like it. The radiums are so powerful, that the LEDs don't make a big difference when the halides are on, but I love having the dawn/dusk mode. I don't use fans on my halides, so it's always quiet...well, except for the gurgling overflow.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Thanks for all the input so far
I'm leaning heavily towards MH/led combo lighting at this point.
I'd like to have the leds ramp up and down at dawn/dusk.

 

[Willistein]

My reefbrite strip is only on/off, but you can get a manual dimmer for them I think. Not sure if there are controllable dimmer options though.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Be careful with transitioning to LEDs. It's my opinion and experience that some corals do poorly under their poorly diffused light sources and limited spectral options, especially considering your intended application.

Note that my vote for you us for T5s:thumbsup:

 

[johno4]

Gary, the giesemann actinic plus t5 bulbs have a really nice blue color that really give corals a nice pop if you go the t5 route. These bulbs are on most if not all the tanks at the Reef Shoppe.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
I haven't ruled out t5 but emerging lighting company BUILD MY LED is working with me to build a multi channel variable output led fixture to be used for primarily dawn/dusk effect