ts ? vho? hellolights? icecap? a little confused

[fast57]

so heres what I got...i have a 45 g tank thats about 2' tall about 1' thick and 36" long...I have 2 96w PC's on it now. I believe that i have enough room up top for 3 T5's w/ reflector's but what the difference between VHO's and T5's? Which one will penetrate to the bottom of the tank better? Will they be better then What I have now? Could I grow SPS corals then? And whats the difference between what Hellolights carrys and Icecap? there seems to be a big price difference...HELP!!!

Oh and will something like an icap 660 drive 3 bulbs or would i need another ballast? i just wnat to get the right setup for my tank...

 

[Henry Bowman]

What makes T5's so effective is the reflectors. The T5's are a smaller diameter light bulb. With good reflectors ALL the light from the backside of the light is reflected into the tank. Due to the size of VHO's a reflector that could do the same job would be much larger (too large for most hoods). PC's arent in the same league as VHO's or T5's. The VHO's are decent lights but T5's are better. You should be able to grow SPS corals wiht a decent T5 set up. Check www.aquactinics.com they are a RC sponsor and have great T5 lighting systems.

HTH

 

[fast57]

will the t5"s penetrate into the bottom of the tank well?

 

[Henry Bowman]

Yes. A good set up with good reflectors will penetrate to the bottom of the tank.

 

[Icefire]

get 4x39w T5HO, Icecap ballast if you want to overdrive them.

 

[Henry Bowman]

The icecap 660 will do the job perfectly. OVerdrive them that is. Check the icecap forum here on RC for specifics. www.reefgeek.com sells T5 retro kits that get pretty good reviews here on RC. I do not have persona experience with their retro's though.

 

[fast57]

but why would you want to overdrive them?? Is there a danger in doing that for corals or my life? How much does it shorten the bulbs life?

 

[Icefire]

39w = 18/24 months life
39w OD = 60w = 9/12 months life

 

[fast57]

could i just use a 430 icecap ballast for 3 bulbs? what would be the difference?

 

[Henry Bowman]

Bulbs are rated by length of tubes. I dont recall the exact specs. If you post on the icecap forum in the vendors area, they can tell you for sure. Or someone that knows more about the icecap specs might answer here.

 

[fast57]

any answers about using the 430?

 

[ChuckLawson]

I seem to recall that the 430 will run a maximum of two tubes; you might want to double-check that with Icecap.

 

[DarG]

The 430 will run 4 tubes but I believe the max length is 8 ft. total, 2 ft. per tube. When driving 2 or 3 lamps, it will drive longer lamp lengths. However, I'm not sure if the 8 ft. maximum total for 4 lamps is an old spec taking into account the wattage of VHO lamps. It may be different for T5. As suggested, check with Ice Cap Inc. These specs are in my head from years ago when I was using VHO and Ice Cap ballasts. Things could be different for T5 and / or specs may have changed.