Why do people use VHO!?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15361405#post15361405 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oceanparadise1
Less heat is kinda wrong imo, a 54 watt t5 puts out as much heat as any other 54 watt bulb, the difference is the T5 bulbs are longer. So a 100 watt hqi vs a 100 watt t5 puts out the same amount of heat, just the t5 is longer and the heat is more spread out vs a hqi bulb! A watt is a watt no matter the light type.


As far as vho bulbs go, my 180 has vhos, first time I've ever had them for atinics and ill never switch back! The color they add is amazing! And a vho bulb is not the same as T5vho.....to different size types of bulbs.
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There are minor differences between the amount of energy (watt) that is light and heat between different lights. If a watt was a watt then a incadescent bulb would be as good as a MH. But for all practical purposes T5HO, T12 VHO and metal halide are pretty darn close in effeciency of turning watt into light
 
Again for clarity. The term VHO as commonly used in this hobby still refers to t12 vho lighting powered by what are commonly called vho ballasts.
 
The simple answer is because in the Actinic field, T12 VHO's (commonly referred to as "VHO") is unmatched when it comes to flourescing the corals. Even the T5HO UVL Super Actinic R cannot match its T12 VHO counterpart. I've used both... there's a big difference.

T5HO's advantages are: They are more energy efficient, way more bulbs to choose from, ability to use good reflectors, and smaller profile means they use less space than their T12 VHO counterpart.

But when it comes to supplemental actinic.. The T12 VHO URI Super Actinic is the undisputed flourescence king. Nothing compares to it.
 
+1 I have been using T5 actinic for the past couple months and I am going back to VHO T12 URI Super Actinic. They have much better color IMO.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15361618#post15361618 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sanchoy
New T5 blows VHO out the water... hands down.
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:eek1: I don't keep my lights in the water.
 
My VHO t12s just keep working, until the ballast that I bought about 7 years ago gives up the ghost, I see no reason to switch to something else. :)
 
A T12 VHO does not need a reflector because it has an internal reflector. A T5 does need a reflector. When you add the reflector to a T5, you haven't saved any space at all.
 
Re: Re: Re: Why do people use VHO!?

Re: Re: Re: Why do people use VHO!?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15360195#post15360195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
In addition to what Gary pointed out, a lot of longer term aquarists already have VHO, it works for them and there's no reason to change.

In addition the idea that T5 is better than VHO is a subjective judgement.
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agu you and phenom5 are both correct. I originally bought VHO over 10 years ago. It works for me, I am growing sps without a problem, granted I have to be somewhat choosey in what I can grow but I don't feel I need to spend the $100's of dollars it would take to convert over to either T5 or MH. If I was just starting, I would probably not buy the VHO T12 technology.
 
I probably would not use vho for overall lighting but to my eyes it is the best for actinic supplentation along with halides.
 
Because my Ice Cap Ballasts refuse to die!!!!!! Why fix what's not broke?

Because my coraline loves it (way more than MH)!

Because my corals love it (softies)

FWIW, I pulled my MH and VHO actinics off of my main tank and went with solatubes. I am now using PC retrofit actinics (BECAUSE THEY FIT!!! (for Mark)). I moved one of the two MH fixtures over my frag tank. I plan on replacing this with HO T5's in the near future.
 
I got into the hobby about a year ago, been doing FW for years. I started out with a T5 fixture, and per a recommendation from a more experienced reefer friend I replaced the 2 actinic bulbs with super actinic, or Helios Super Blue...I tried them both with good outcome....When I upgraded to the current system I got a used system from a guy on one of the local boards. He had a mixture of lighting, multiple T5's, VHO, and a 150W MH....I notice so much more color and growth with the VHO, than i did with the T5 actinics.....
 
Correct me where I am wrong cause I do not know a whole lot about T5s.
People use T5s cause they are brighter more energy efficient and are run cooler. Right? Well to get all that except cooler you have to over drive them with something like a icecap 660, Well when you do that they are not much more energy efficent, run way hotter then VHO (I have put 4 VHO and 4 T5s each with the a icecap 660 and T5s run much much hotter, And not to mention when you overdrive the bulbs they run hotter and are not built to run overdriven so you have to replace them more often.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15363678#post15363678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by matrixpb03
Correct me where I am wrong cause I do not know a whole lot about T5s.
People use T5s cause they are brighter more energy efficient and are run cooler. Right? Well to get all that except cooler you have to over drive them with something like a icecap 660, Well when you do that they are not much more energy efficent, run way hotter then VHO (I have put 4 VHO and 4 T5s each with the a icecap 660 and T5s run much much hotter, And not to mention when you overdrive the bulbs they run hotter and are not built to run overdriven so you have to replace them more often.
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Thats intresting to note. Do we have any rebutles to this? :smokin:
 
My old canopy on my 75 had 6 48" VHOs crammed in it, and I had good growth on all my corals - SPS included. When I added 2 250W MH, I kept 2 VHOs for actinic supplementation (and dusk/dawn). I remember people saying PC lighting would make VHO obsolete. Don't think so. I may be old school, but I'm not alone.
 
Quick question for everyone...

I use a Nova Extreme T-5 light. 216 watts total. Right now it has 2-10k and 2 actinic. The bulbs are a year old and are due for replacement.

After reading this thread, I would like to add VHO actinic since it seems to be the choice over T-5.

Can I use 4- 10k lights in the Nova housing and just retrofit the VHO actinics over the tank somehow? I say "somehow" because it is a 55...:confused: :)

Basically what I am asking is, can the hood handle all 4 bulbs being 10k ???

Sorry if that sounds stupid but I dont know anything about lighting (first tank) but I am trying to get a grasp on it.:D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15363678#post15363678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by matrixpb03
Correct me where I am wrong cause I do not know a whole lot about T5s.
People use T5s cause they are brighter more energy efficient and are run cooler. Right? Well to get all that except cooler you have to over drive them with something like a icecap 660, Well when you do that they are not much more energy efficent, run way hotter then VHO (I have put 4 VHO and 4 T5s each with the a icecap 660 and T5s run much much hotter, And not to mention when you overdrive the bulbs they run hotter and are not built to run overdriven so you have to replace them more often.
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A standard driven T5HO w/ a good individual reflector can put out more PAR/watt than a VHO. Overdriving them makes them hotter but brighter than VHO with roughly the same bulb life. VHO actinics rock. If I had a VHO system I wouldn't trade it out for T5HO but I would not be buying a brand new VHO system for primary light because of the lack of color choice versus T5. Well, the exception to that would be there are more lengths to get in VHO that are not available in T5HO
 
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