lfs recommended vhos

[rickyh24]

I went to get a canopy with some lighting installed today, and the people at my lfs told me that vho lighting would be sufficent to house any corals. I know the hood im getting has 3 strips in it. Not sure the wattage but i will find out tommorow. My tank is a 50 breeder. do you think that i will be able to house any coral (clams, sps) i know a lot of the people on this board probably dont think so. But i like the lighting of vhos and i did not want to have to get a chiller. The vendor also said that if i went with anything higher then i had i would take the risk of burning corals.

 

[viper_930]

IMO you can't get just anything with VHO lighting, unless it is a tremendous amount. For most SPS and deeper clams I recommend you go with MH. I have 130 watts of PC lighting + 150 watts of MH lighting and do not have a heating problem what so ever. Just my experience.

 

[tizzo]

Ironic he would tell you that because in about 6 months when you ask why your corals are not growing fast enough he will tell you that you need to upgrade your lighting. Then he will have sold you 2 sets of lights!!
SPS's and clams will do best under MH's. There will always be people that can get them to thrive under less than that but I would not recomend getting less.
Myself as an example, I had a clam under 2 175 watt MH's and he started to lose his color. I had to move him to the very top of the tank, his color didn't further deteriorate but neither did it improve until I upgraded to 250's. Now he is very pretty. I have a hitchhiker Capnella (soft coral) and several mushroom corals and they have not been harmed in the least when I upgraded my lighting. If you want SPS's, I'd recomend MH's

 

[rickyh24]

i already ordered the canopy with the vho installed maybe i can fit a mh bulb in thier too. i will see once i get the canopy this week.

 

[rickyh24]

how many watts do clams and sps require generally?

 

[shoreliner11]

Generally watts alone is not the best gauge for lighting. This is because not all light is created equal (I know...mlk wouldn't like this ..JK). 250watts of mh is going to more intense than 250watts of pc. For your tank I would suggest doing 2 250mh and 2 vho or T5 for actinic supplementation. Sounds like alot but your corals, especially sps will be happier in the end.

 

[rickyh24]

ive heard so many people say that a watt is a watt no matter how you look at it. just different opinions i guess. They special ordered the canopy and lighting for me so i know they are not just trying to get me to come back and buy more. they charged a 15 % markup . i think i will try the vhos for a while and then see what happens. i paid 500 for the setup so this will be what i go with for a while.

 

[essop3]

to prove the watt=watt to myself I bought a power compact light bulb for a lamp in my house. I bought a 25 watt (i think) and it is as bright as a 100 watt normal output. Same thing as you go up further in quality.