lps/softie lighting

[josh]

Hey y'all,
150 watts of VHO over a 29 gallon, would this be a good lighting setup for lps/softies? Would there be anything that I couldn't keep?
Thanks

 

[slick]

Depends on what kind of ballast he has. What kind of ballast is it?

 

[josh]

PFO - so you don't think this would be enough?

 

[slick]

Well your still on the lower side of light power.

 

[josh]

hmmmm.... really? I haven't done softies in so long I guess I am a bit dated on their requirements.
I could get a 3 lamp setup but I like the pfo b/c I can control each lamp individualy. Are PC lights more powerful? I used to run a 110 pc setup and kept any softies I wanted for the most part.
Thanks for responding, please continue to help if you would.
Josh

 

[aileena]

i am also interested in this question. I have 3 vhos on a icecap 440 ballast...how many watts does this put out??? Would it matter if I had 4 bulbs???

 

[josh]

You have 225 watts of vho, a good amount. I think I will be going with the pfo dual vho and see what happens.

 

[josh]

440's are capable of 440, but she has 3 24" VHO lamps... 24" lamps put out 75 watts.

 

[bdubbya]

I think you'll be fine for softies. You may want to keep the lps coral closer to the light though. HTH.

 

[josh]

Well,
Yet another option....how bout a 150 MH with the saki 50K.
discuss......

 

[barry769]

Go with T5's if you can find it, it is a better alternative to VHO and if you don't have a deep tank it can compete with MH.

 

[josh]

I would if they came in 24" length here in the states.

 

[barry769]

seawatec.de does ship internationally, it can get to be annoying trying to use their translater to change all of the german to english, but as of right now, it looks as though this is how I am going to get 24" t5s

 

[josh]

hmmm... importing can be a son of a gun. How long did they say it would take?

 

[barry769]

They don't say how long it will take to ship, and shipping looks like it will be expensive...I have heard from other people that say they are trustworthy, but I think I'm going to keep looking to see if I can't find a cheaper source. I'll keep you posted if i find anything.
-Scott

 

[josh]

You might want to talk to Vince over at oceanencounter.com
He's a nice guy, they just started to carry the longer one. He might know something. Also, you might talk to Perry at sunlight supply, also a very nice guy with some in roads into lamps.
I think I am going with the 150 50K saki's. I hope to be able to keep a wider variety of goodies with it.

 

[ags]

150 watts of VHO over a 29 is more than enough light for soft corals IMO. I have a 55 and prior to buying the icecap 660 had just about 200watts of light and had no problem with softies. IMO you could also get away with some lower light LPS. Finger leathers, colts, mushrooms and polyps (yellow, green star, button) will do fine under that lighting. How deep is your tank?

 

[y2says]

I only have 110w pc on my mother's 29g and her bubble doubled in size in about 6 months. You should be ok with softies and some hardy LPS corals.