4X110 VHO or 4X96 PCS? WHICH IS BETTER?

[coralwish]

I'M UPGRADING MY LIGHT FOR A 90 GAL REEF TANK, AND WAS WONDERING WHAT WOULD BE BETTER OUT OF THE TWO VHO OR PCS?
1.4X110 VHO
2.4X96 PCS
I CAN'T AFFORD MH AND CAN'T REALLY AFFORD THE ELECTRICITY COST AND A CHILLER EITHER. ( I LIVE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS)
CALLING ALL THE REEFERS OUT THERE TO HELP ME OUT.

 

[jlem]

VHO's will run a whole lot cooler and really look nice. From what the manufacturers told me ( corallife and URI ) the bulbs can easily last over a year. Granted if you run them 16 hours aday then you would have to change them all the time, but that goes for PC's to

 

[jim27]

Personally I prefer PC's for there greater intensity but of those two choices I'd go with the VHO because you'll have more wattage over the tank. Plus I believe 110w VHO's are 4ft long while the PC's are only 3ft so you'll have a more light on the ends.

 

[thomas712]

They both look nice, of the two I perfer the VHO.
Thomas

 

[volitan]

I love VHO, but they will produce some heat. I would invest in a couple of pc fans (shouldn't cost much) and wire them to your ballast so they kick on at the same time your lights do. HTH

 

[j-cal]

As far as coraline goes my PCs turned bare rock into solid purple i about a week and a half. It might be all the cal cuz i use tap water and its really hard here, but coraline seemed to go nuts in my tack. I dont have much of an algae problem, but i have coraline growing on my glass nonstop. My corals all seem fine under PC too.
Justin

 

[coralwish]

cool! thanks for all of your replies!! That helped alot. I was going to get a 4x96 PCs because a friend told me that it has more intensity. But after reading this message board carefuly, it seems that alot more people are having more sucess with the VHOs. I will now upgrade my lighting to 4x110 48" VHO with a custom built canopy. Thanks again.

 

[coralwish]

Which bulbs should I get as far as the Ks and the atintic goes? (6700k-20000k?) I think that I should have 2 super atintic right? I dont know, which is the best combination? How far off the water are they suppost to be? The canopy I ordering is going to be 8" high (7" after it's place on top of the tank?). How long should I keep the lights on for? And should I do the different timing of the lights coming on to simulate the Dusk/Dawn effect ( PLEASE TELL MY EXACTLY HOW THIS WORKS) ? PLMK THANKS

 

[stumpdog]

Coral-
I too am trying to make a decision on upgrading my lights. If the PCs are more intense why would you go with VHOs? (VHOs are what I am leaning toward) Or does the extra wattage from the VHOs make up for the intensity of the PCs?
Thanks-
Jeremy

 

[krunk]

well haventused either yet, but im going too get vho's. 96 watts pc's are what? 35-40 a bulb? VHO's are only 20-25$
Coralwish - go with two True Actinic bulbs, and two 67k's, or 2 10k's.
As far as the daylight/dusk. this is how i would run mine -
10am - two actinics go on
12pm - two daylight bulbs go on
8pm - two daylight bulbs go off
10am - two actinics go off

 

[jlem]

On my 125 gallon I run 2-140 watt vho 10k and 2-95 watt actinics, and the corals are doing great and have grown like crazy.

 

[beth]

I didn't see mention here about the need for a specialized ballast to run VHO's. It could be that you know that, but just in case.
I run 4x110 Vhos run on a IC eballast. Also use 2 IC fans. Don't skim on the ballast.

 

[jim27]

Originally posted by Kipass4130
oh yeah, and with PCs you can run into the "true actinic 03" problem
most actinic PCs are just blue bulbs, nothing more
Hellolights makes true actinic PC's......
EDIT- Oh yeah, whats up with some all VHO lit tanks looking so pink? Is it the aquasun bulbs? Its really ugly IMO.

 

[bang guy]

Beth made a good point with the ballast. If you splurge and buy the IceCap 660 you can always switch to PC if you want, or (I love this!) mix bulb types. You could run 2 daylight 96 watt PCs and 2 110 watt VHO SuperActinics
Personally, I have IceCap ballasts and all VHO but it's good to have options.

 

[coralwish]

OK!
Which is best for coral growth as far as them thriving and being healthy?
1.2 true atintic and 2 10000 k
OR
2.2 true atintic and 2 12000 k
I personally like a more bluest look and was thinking to go with the 12000 k like you guy mention, BUT IF THE OTHE OPTION IS BETTER FOR THE CORAL I WILL DO THE 10000K. PLMK ASAP THANKS

 

[coralwish]

OH, I FORGOT TO ASK YOU GUYS ( AND LADIES) IF I CAN KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTED CLAMS AT ALL WITH THIS SETUP. I'VE HAVE BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY ON CLAMS AND MH, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SOME SUCESS OTHER THAN MH LIGHTING.
IF I CAN KEEP THE CLAMS, WOULD IT HAVE TO BE ON A HIGH ROCK CLOSER TO THE LIGHT? HOW WOULD YOU KEEP IT THERE WITHOUT THE FISH MOVING IT OR THE CLAM ACTUALLY JUMPING OF THE ROCK IT SELF. A LFS TOLD ME THAT YOU HAVE TO SUPER GLUE THE CLAM TO THE LIVE ROCK, BUT THAT SOUNDED KINDA CHEESY. WONDERING IF THAT'S TRUE?

 

[coralwish]

I too am trying to make a decision on upgrading my lights. If the PCs are more intense why would you go with VHOs? (VHOs are what I am leaning toward) Or does the extra wattage from the VHOs make up for the intensity of the PCs?
STUMPDOG,
EVEN THOUGH THE 96 WATTS PCS ARE MORE INTENSE THAN THE 110 WATTS VHO, IT'S ONLY 3 FEET LONG. SO THE VHO WILL COVER BOTH CORNERS OF THE TANK SINCE THE BULB IS ACTUALLY 48" LONG. AS FOR GROWTH AND STUFF FOR YOUR TANK MATES, ALOT OF PEOPLE HERE SAID THAT VHO SEEMS TO SIMULATE A BETTER QUALITY LIGHTING (BLUE) FOR THE CORALS.
I HAVE 2X65 50/50 PCS ON MY TANK RIGHT NOW AND IT DOESN'T LOOK VEY NICE AT ALL (TOO WHITE AND YELLOW, NOT ENOUGH BLUE), BUT IT'S JUST MY OPINION.

 

[sammystingray]

Hahahahehe.....I would never superglue a clam....if they are happy and healthy, they very quickly put out a bysis (sp?) thread and attach themselves. PCs are more intense because they are shorter....if you stretched them out the length, they would lose intensity. I prefer VHO by far....I use VHO on a 90, and I would not recommend clams although if at the very top, they seem to do pretty good.....only if they like rocks though. My brother runs PC and can't come close to my coraline growth, and actinics for VHO are FAR superior even still in my opinion. I recommend two attinic white, and two super actinics....realize that due to the depth of a 90 gallon....you will be limited as to what you can keep with either one......SPS will not do well in general. I would consider 440 watts "mild" lighting...as I do on my own 90 gallon tank. Good luck.

 

[jarvis]

You bring up a good topic. I like my URI VHO bulbs. Did anyone ever run across any statisical data on PCs produceing more LUX and greater depth penetration than VHO?

 

[coralwish]

Sammy, what's atintic white? is it the 12000k bulbs?
As for your tank, it's a 90 gal like mine right?
What are some types of coral you're having success with under this type of lighting setup? PLEASE NAME ALL THE CORAL YOU'RE ABLE TO KEEP SO I DON'T ACCIDENTLY KILL ANY CORAL DUE TO LACK OF LIGHT. THANKS