VHO Lighting

[mkarston]

AZDesertRat, yeah, I may have to agree with you on the Color of VHO actinics vs.
T5. You could always get the best of both worlds by combining 2 VHO Actinics with 2 White T5 bulbs. I think this would be a nice combination.

 

[Smitty91]

Put it this way, on the Icecap 660 ballast setup:

220 WATTS for a 75g = 2.93wpg (WATTs per gallon)
440 WATTS for a 75g = 5.87wpg

I would think your stony corals would appreciate the latter, not the former configuration. If you're worried about burning them up, place them roughly half way down the tank vs. near the top.

Smitty

 

[Croman]

If I may add my two cents here since I had both VHO and currently running T5. IMO both have there uses. I can admit I had more success with T5 with SPS and Clams while with softies, LPS and some SPS on the top VHO worked great. If I were you I would go the T5 route.

 

[Amphiprion]

I used to run VHO, then VHO+T5, and now finally all T5. IMHO, I like the look of pure T5 more than the mixture now. I thought the fluorescence was important, but the blue+ bulbs do still give a little without sacrificing PAR.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10247532#post10247532 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vapor1
How many t-5's does it take to equal the light output of a VHO ?

About 1/2.