80 watts VHO Better then my 96w PC??

[clown_nut]

I have had a little extra time on my hands lately and Have been researching quite a few things...anyways I am not wondering if I was somehow able to get a VHO hood on my tank with two 40w VHO's could I expect improvement over my current 96wpc? Assumeing I was trying to grow more demanding coral?

 

[aggie05]

Yes. I was running a 130 watt PC hood on my 20 long and then switched to 150 watts VHO and have seen dramatic improvements. While I did gain 20 watts of light, the VHO bulbs are so much better than the PCs. Plus, the coloration has imporved, and heat is less. I can't say enough about how good VHO is in comparison to PCs. IMO the only choices in lighting should by VHO, MH, or T5. Its just not worth spending the money on PCs when you can get so much more out of other types of light.

 

[crazy4reefs]

i dont suppose you could let me know where you got the vho's. are the 30 inches. i have not been able to find any that length. thanks, oh and sorry clown_nut didnt mean to hi jack.

 

[clown_nut]

No Problem Crazy...By the way has anyone seen any kits for 10 gallons??? Atleast retrofits?

 

[crazy4reefs]

what is the length of a 10 gallon. i hope it is ok to post this, check out hellolightsdotcom. i have dealt with them before, they are a good place.

 

[clown_nut]

well my current coralife PC fixture is 20inches. And Thanks for the post...you didn't post it in link form so hopefully it'll be ok hehe.

 

[aggie05]

Thats the only problem for nano people. The shortest VHO bulb is 24" which is what I have over my tank. The next length is 36", so for those with a 30" tank like me, you are looking at having to get 24" bulbs. Which isn't a problem because the light falloff isn't bad at all.

 

[crazy4reefs]

thanks for the help. so the only way i could use vho is if i get retro fit and use a canopy ?

 

[clown_nut]

hmm I was thinking of getting a 30g extra high sometime or another..or atleast it's one of my many possible ideas..

 

[crazy4reefs]

probably not much help but a 30 gallon long is 36 inches, which is much easier to find light for. i dont know the length for a 30 high.

 

[aggie05]

Depends, if you have an existing PC hood that is big enough and you are willing to gut it, you can do what I did. I took my CSL moonlight hood and put the VHOs in there. Looks stock, but performs a whole lot better.

 

[aggie05]

Oh, and if you look on that site mentioned earlier, you can get a two bulb setup minus a reflector (which you won't need since URIs have built in reflectors) for under 100 bucks including bulbs. Check the DIY section.
You have to buy the raw ballast, endcaps, powercord and bulbs.

 

[crazy4reefs]

wow thanks, that sounds good. hopefully i will be able to do the diy with the hood i have now. :joy:

 

[clown_nut]

Yes thanks for the info.

 

[cliffrouse11bas]

Id say go VHO. i dont know if you ever say ryebread 29 gallon, but he had 225 vho on top of it and it was awesome. I wish I had a tank big enough for VHO's.

 

[flatzboy]

I am running a 75g. with 4 110 watt vho's and just took down my 20g. reef that had 110 watt pc's so I could switch all the coral and fish into the 2 month old 46g. bow. And the vho definately has a better color, corals seem to just like the light better then pc's and I would never buy pc's again unless it was like a 10g. Pc's are supose to be watt for watt more intense then vho but corals don't seem to like the spectrum of pc's.