Need advice on a possible buy

[evilfishtank]

found in our local reef club this add
90 gallon oceanview tank, stand and canopy
20 gallon long sump/fuge with mag 9.5 return W/back pack type skimmer
VHO lighting 6 bulbs 2 ballasts all wiring harnesses 1 icecap 660, 1 URI
1 CPR CS90 overflow box
guy wants 400$ for it... and that is all the info he has.. nothing else on the tank no light wattage.
does this sound like a good deal?
how outdated are vho's?
would i need to replace the lights pretty soon to house coral and anemones ?
thanks in advance.

 

[scsinet]

VHO lighting is not outdated per se, but I wouldn't spend money on a new fixture that uses it.
It's not a bad deal. The lights are probably 110w, 48" VHO lamps, since the 90g is a 4' wide tank.
As for corals, you'd probably be fine with most stuff, but high lighting corals or anemones might have issues.
You need to replace the lamps immediately. You can't trust how old they are or how old the seller says they are, and VHO lamps need to be replaced very frequently, about every 6 months. However, this presents you with a great opportunity. The Icecap 660 will drive T5 lamps. So what I'd do is buy some individual reflectors, T5 endcaps, and 4 54w T5 lamps. You can just swap out the sockets, wire for wire. You can then easily retrofit T5s into your system, and since you have to buy new lamps anyway, now is the pefect time.
That second ballast who knows about... it likely can't drive T5s without overdriving them severely and causing premature failure. So you could leave those as VHO lamps and buy super actinic lamps for those two tubes.
Between the 660 overdriving your 4 T5 lamps and the two 110w actinic lamps, you'll be in great shape to keep almost anything.