Poll: MH ,VHO or Both
- Thread starter bogie man
- Start date
garyfla
Member
Hi
All systems of lighting have advantages and drawbacks.Having both is supposed to make up for the limitations of the other.
It depends a lot on what you want to keep
If you're just staring out and don't see
sps corals as the main part of the setup go
with the CF.You can always upgrade later.
Do a lot of reading on the animals you want to keep and design the system around them.
Gary
All systems of lighting have advantages and drawbacks.Having both is supposed to make up for the limitations of the other.
It depends a lot on what you want to keep
If you're just staring out and don't see
sps corals as the main part of the setup go
with the CF.You can always upgrade later.
Do a lot of reading on the animals you want to keep and design the system around them.
Gary
nm reef
Active Member
Tough questiuon to answer for you......best answer I could give would be for you to research the requirements of the system and creatures you want to add...then build your lighting to work with your plans.....but its been my experience that practically any combination of mh/no/vho/pc will work in certain situations
Myself I use a combination of vho&pc...works very well on my system
Myself I use a combination of vho&pc...works very well on my system
vkesu
Member
I read another post where somone stated to go w/mh and vho . You can keep anything, and work up your skills as a reefer to that level. Great advice. But...I've had trouble finding mh I like. I'm afraid of buying one, and hating the color! We also have a 72 bow. We have 4 vho 46.5 long. I feel I could keep most anything but prob. no clams. I have torch coral, closed brain, frogspawn, leathers, anchor coral, and they are growing. I also have a (tank raised only) bubble tip anenome which seems to be also doing well. (only bta and tank raised!)I'm happy with mine, we changed to 2 50/50, 1 at, 1 day. and love the color and everythng seems happy.
q
Member
NM Reef is right. Light for the corals.
I went with MH/VHO because I wanted more light with out haveing to have 250W MH.
VkeSu: I have 4 VHO at 46.5 in long too. 2 actinic and 2 daylight. I just got 2 14,000K MH bulbs and they are not as blue as the vho set-up. With both of them on though it sheds alot of light and the color is a subtle blue. The 14K bulb gets my vote. It is whiter than 12K pics I have seen. I'll have pics in a week or so.
I went with MH/VHO because I wanted more light with out haveing to have 250W MH.
VkeSu: I have 4 VHO at 46.5 in long too. 2 actinic and 2 daylight. I just got 2 14,000K MH bulbs and they are not as blue as the vho set-up. With both of them on though it sheds alot of light and the color is a subtle blue. The 14K bulb gets my vote. It is whiter than 12K pics I have seen. I'll have pics in a week or so.
kung fu
Member
Well...I'm an extreme newbie (just adding the first load of LR next week) but here's the lighting set up I'm starting with...
2 Coralife 10,000K 21" x 55 watt Compacts
2 Coralife 50/50 6000K Daylight/Actinic Compacts
2 Coralife 24" x 24 watt Actinics
I also have a couple of Phillips 18 watt fluorescents down over my sump at night when the reef lights are out.
Don't know if that helps (it wasn't cheap - trust me!)
Peace...
2 Coralife 10,000K 21" x 55 watt Compacts
2 Coralife 50/50 6000K Daylight/Actinic Compacts
2 Coralife 24" x 24 watt Actinics
I also have a couple of Phillips 18 watt fluorescents down over my sump at night when the reef lights are out.
Don't know if that helps (it wasn't cheap - trust me!)
Peace...
90galreef
New Member
I recently replaced my VHO with powercompact flourescent. Wow! What a difference! The JBJ I purchased has my lr propagating, and my corals happy. The best news is, it was much less $$ than a mh setup. I also like the separate switches to separate the actenate and sunlight bulbs.
ironreef
Member
JBL are expensive =par with halide retro fits. Halides are the best lighting for intensity. This is why ppl with pc still like to use halides with there setups and the pc is just used for actinic= if you plan on having halides vho has beter actinic.But it depends on what you keep. sps farmers use 400w mh exclusive. most all who have online stores.But 400w maybe to much 25o is fine. But depends on what you keep thats what will tell you maybe happy with pc/vho. But most aren't after awhile
kelly
Member
Ironreef,
I know a guy in the Cleveland area who raises SPS, and sells them from his house. He uses 4 VHO lights powered by an IceCap 660 ballast. He seems to have extremely good luck using them. Right off hand, I can not tell you which SPS he has, but last time I was there they were doing well.
I agree with the posts above, light for the corals which you plan on having.
Kelly
I know a guy in the Cleveland area who raises SPS, and sells them from his house. He uses 4 VHO lights powered by an IceCap 660 ballast. He seems to have extremely good luck using them. Right off hand, I can not tell you which SPS he has, but last time I was there they were doing well.
I agree with the posts above, light for the corals which you plan on having.
Kelly