T5 Vho

sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
In a couple weeks I will be ordering a 36" T5 setup for my new 38 gallon. I was shopping around online and came across T5 VHO bulbs. The HO 36" bulbs are 39 watt, but the VHO bulbs are 60 watts. If I buy VHO bulbs and put them in the fixture/retrofit (haven't decided between Sundial or Retro yet) will they run at 60 watts? Or do I need a different ballast to push them to 60 watts?
 
matt b

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by sickboy
http:///forum/post/2595547
In a couple weeks I will be ordering a 36" T5 setup for my new 38 gallon. I was shopping around online and came across T5 VHO bulbs. The HO 36" bulbs are 39 watt, but the VHO bulbs are 60 watts. If I buy VHO bulbs and put them in the fixture/retrofit (haven't decided between Sundial or Retro yet) will they run at 60 watts? Or do I need a different ballast to push them to 60 watts?
You need t5 ballast to run t5 and vho ballast to run vho
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
So I need a T5 VHO ballast to run the T5 VHO bulbs? Would an icecap work? So if I buy the fixture, even if I buy the T5 VHO bulbs they won't perform any different than HO bulbs?
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
There are no T5-VHO bulbs, VHO is just what some companies call the bulbs when they're overdriven with an Icecap ballast (like the 660). So if you place one of the "VHO" bulbs in a fixture that uses a spec ballast, then it will only run at the "HO" wattage.
-Justin
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
That's what I thought, until I saw T5 VHO bulbs for sale. The first place I saw them was on a website, and I thought it was just a typo. The second place I saw it was in a catalog these docs put out. That is where I got the watts for the "T5 VHO" bulbs as they are listed right there with the HO bulbs. Is this just a typo as well? If these things really don't exist, sorry for wasting message board space. I just saw them and began to wonder.....
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Those V-HO T5's are just a standard T5 with the electrodes beefed up the better withstand overdriving the lamp. They work in HO ballasts or the Ice Cap ballasts.
 
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