LIGHTS!????

thereefman52

thereefman52

Member
Ok here the deal. I have a 90 gallon overflow tank. And i know lights are very expensive. right now.. i have 2 strip lights, one coralife 50/50 and a actinic??
I dont want a full out reef. but i would like a couple corals. I have a flower pot coral for about 7 monthes and it seems fine. can someone explain to me the diff between HO and VHO ? i know what MH are tho. another thing.. can anyone give me some ways to help grow coraline algea on my live rock.. thanks ) :D
 
silent bob

silent bob

Member
hey, vho means very high output, ho means high output, you're better off with power compacts, you can buy electro light retro fit kits cheap, the kit comes with the endcaps and ballast, you can get kits for 2 lights 4, or 6 all you have to do is build a box or lid to hold them, for coralline algae increase water circulation with small powerheads, and use kent super-buffer-dkh, and turbo- calcium, but be very careful with it, it's for experienced aquariusts only. good luck
 
silent bob

silent bob

Member
also go to xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com they have great deals on power compacts and cheap shipping rates!
Warning for unauthorized link!
BurnNSpy
[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: BurnNSpy ]
 
fish sense

fish sense

Member
What wattage are your lights now? I'm guessing that each is 40 watts for a total of 80 or about 1 wpg. HO I believe are regular flouresent lights while VHO are higher intensity lights giving you more wpg. I would recommend a power compact retro fit system if you have a canopy that will accept it. Fairly inexpensive in the scheme of things. More wpg will help you grow coralline algae. You do need some in the tank from a live rock, etc. to get started. Current, adequate calcium and probably alkalinity are important. Good luck!
 
jamos6

jamos6

Member
The best for watts is metal halides but power compacts I think have the best color.
Also
Silent Bob I would take that link off cause they will get upset. I did the same thing when I 1st got on here, but Im just forwarning you.
thnx
 
thereefman52

thereefman52

Member
Silent bob.. haha how ya doin im from delran nj.... anyway.. these power compacts, what are the bulbs like?? and.. i have my flouresent bulbs in the two strip light fixture, i am guessing with PC i would just get rid of them? and also.. with the PC, i have a wood decorative canopy over my tank that opens, then i open the glass to the tank top, do i nail the PC to this wood canopy? its not like the ones i see with the Metal Halides i see.. it looks like this.. any suggestions??? :) sorry for all the questions everyone!
 
chocochipper

chocochipper

Member
H.O.'s are not regular flourescents as someone else thought. There are N.O. (normal output), H.O. (high output) and V.H.O. (very high output). Output meaning light intensity,brightness. P.C.'s (power compacts) are nice lights. They last longer than flo tubes. I have a set on my tank and enjoy them. If you get a retro kit then you can use your existing light fixture, just take the old lamps and endcaps out and put the new ones in. If your ballast is in the hood replace that too. You might want that to be remotely mounted as to help keep heat down if it isn't already. In my personal opinion I think that the flourescent tubes actually have a better color as far as the Actinic goes, but I have no complaints with my smartlite PC's. One option is to take just one of the flo tubes out and put a pair of PC's in it's place. That way you can have the best of both worlds. But then you would possibly need to get a new ballast for the flo tube since your's is supposed to run 2 and they some(most)times don't work with only one tube. If I confused you feel free to email. big_red_59@hotmail.com
[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: chocochipper ]
 
sonny

sonny

Member
Seeing the pic of the tank helps, and that is a deep tank. I really think you'd be better off with Metal halides. They penetrate much better in deep tanks. They are not as expensive as you might think, if you do it yourself. 175 watt MH's can be bought for less than $200 for 2 ballasts and 2 lamps, but you'll have to do the wiring yourself. Lamps can be very expensive, but the prices seem to be dropping some recently. The most cost-effective ones are the 6500 k lamps. You could use the fluorescents you already have for actinic lighting. You will have to decide for yourself in the long run, because there are so many options for lighting. Before you buy anything more, decide exactly what types of corals you want to keep. Don't expect to keep brightly colored SPS corals under just a couple of regular fluorescents. You can add lights as you go along too, even one MH light at a time. Nothing really looks as good as MH to me! Good luck.
Sonny
 
von_rahvin

von_rahvin

Member
i just set up a system with 4 vho's (going to 6) and it was 1/2 the cost of a weaker system using power compacts. personally i wish i would have built a vho/ mh system. there is a site on the web (can't post links) that tells you how to make a 250 mh set up for 100 dollars. I found it after my ballasts and lights were ordered.
i eneded up shelling out 525 for my lighting system , while a pc system of like value would have cost me 12-1500
note i did build my own hood and set up everything myself
 
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