Lighting explanation

jimnlee

jimnlee

Member
Can someone please explain the different lighting options for me? I see terms like actinic, VHO, power compact, metal halide, 10,000K, and a dumb ole country boy like me gets downright confused! I'm considering gtting into a 240 or 300 gallon, ut before i do that I want to look at all of my options and variables. I think I've gotten a pretty good education on most areas thanks to the people on this board, who are very helpful. I'm still really lacking in the lighting department though.
THANKS!
:confused: :confused: :confused: :notsure: :notsure: :notsure:
 
evilss

evilss

Member
well first off what are you planning on keeping in your tank? if its a reef you will need a better set of lights compared to a fowlr setup. tell us what you have in mind on keeping. then we can help.
 
jimnlee

jimnlee

Member
Thanks for the reply Evil. That's the problem I guess...I'm not sure yet how I want to set it up. What I'm really asking for is definitions of the different lighting options, not necessarily a specific recommendation, although that would be appreciated as well (once I make the final decision between reef or FOWLR). Thanks again
Jim
 
evilss

evilss

Member
well 98% of the reefers here will tell you to go mh lighting. i know of a few people that use vho on there reefs as well with great sucess. but as far as a 240-300 gal. if i was doing a reef then i would go with mh with some vho. you can look in the diy forum and reef forum for some of those guys light combinations. if you are planning on just a fowlr you could go with some pc lighting or vho. the big thing is what you plan on keeping. i personaly am building a 29 gal reef. im gonna go with pc lighting because all of the corals that i want are low light corals. im gonna be a running (2) 65w unit and possibly another (1) 65w unit. take a look in the reef forum. let us know what you wind up doing.
 
greatfullreefer

greatfullreefer

Active Member

Originally posted by jimnlee
Can I run VHO on a regulr light fixture?

I am affraid not you need ballasts that can handle the higher wattage VHO=very high output. Do a search for retrofit VHO, it may help you to understand a little more on the setup.
 
jimnlee

jimnlee

Member
Thanks for your help guys, but I'm more confused than ever. What are the advantages/disadvantages of VHO, PC, Halides...etc?
I fel pretty dense for nt understanding this yet, but thanks for trying!
:notsure:
 
evilss

evilss

Member
its hard to grasp at first. i will search around and see if i can find a thread going into detail on each. it took me a while to learn about them all too so dont feel like your the only one. this is a very in depth hobby. thats what i enjoy about it so much.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Incandescent = regular lamp bulbs. Extremely inefficient and very poor colors
NO = Normal Output Flourescent. Very efficient and good color but very low intensity. OK for Fish only tanks.
T5 = High Output Flourescent lamps. Fairly new to the community. Very efficient, good color, fairly intense light. Limited bulb selection.
VHO = Very Hight Output. A standard. Excellent color, fairly efficient, More intense then NO, less intense then T5 and PC.
PC = Power Compact. These are flourescent bulbs where the tubes are bent into a tight 'U'. Excellent color, fairly efficient fairly intense. Great option where space is limited.
MH = Metal Halide lighting. Efficient, great color, excellent intensity. These are the best value for larger reef tanks.
My recommendation is to take some time, read a couple good books on the hobby and decide what you want the end product to look like. Then find someone with a tank you would like to emulate and ask them what they're using.
 
spline9

spline9

Member
Thanks bang. I was going to post a question about the differences between the flourescents. Primarily T5s since I havent seen much talk about them.
When you say "intense" do you mean water penetration strength?
 
jimnlee

jimnlee

Member
Thanks Bang! That's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks to evil and grateful too.
One last question if you don't mind. What does the 10,000K (or variation of 10,000) mean?
p.s. Bang, I've been reading about your exploits here and I take my hat off to you...what a lagoon!
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
The K, or Kelvin, is loosely related to Black body spectral emissions. As something gets hotter is emits different colors of light. A low K like 2000K would be red where 10,000K is white and 20,000K would be blue. Generally anything lower than 6500K will be too yellow or green to be appealing.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by spline9
Thanks bang. I was going to post a question about the differences between the flourescents. Primarily T5s since I havent seen much talk about them.
When you say "intense" do you mean water penetration strength?
Not really although that's mostly true.
I'm referring the animals that require intense lighting like Acropora and Crocea Clams.
400 watts of NO is a significant amount of light but you could easily stare at it from 4 feet away.
A 400 watt MH is almost the same amount of light (actually slightly less) but it's difficult to stare at and you'll see spots for a long time.
 
spline9

spline9

Member
there is tons more to write on lighting.. but i will stop here.
Sounds like an idea for a good informative sticky thread. Can I hint towards suggesting something similar to the COTM but regarding common questions and misconceptions asked in the forums? (ok so im fishing for more light info, sue me. sue me again for the bad pun, too.)
BTW: I sure hope this is the right thread to be posting in. All I see is this blue spot form them damn halides...
 
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