VHO in eclipse?

[jacrmill]

im thinking about ordering a VHO system to replace the lights in my eclipse. will the bulbs get hot enough to melt the plastic? anybody tried this? im kinda wanting to keep corals, but need alot more light. by the way i have an eclipse 3 on a 37 gallon.

 

[beth]

I think you should contact the manufacturer about this question...perhap visit their website.
Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[jacrmill]

i thought about it, but ive done that before, and there were no help at all. i still consider myself kinda new at this aquarium thing, but i knew way more than they did. so i was hoping someone on this board would have some kind of experience with something like that.

 

[jond]

I don't know if you have seen any of my posts, but I also have an eclipse 3 on a 37. I am giving up and going with a different set up, but thats not to say you can't make it work. I have a brain and star pollip coral. Have had the brain for 2 months and he is getting huge. That is with stock lights, one white, one actinic.
I am going to VHO's on a canopy, but I don't know if you can put them on the Eclipse hood. There are a few PC retros out there for an easy swap. It will get you an easy 55W. I will have 225W on my 37 when I switch. Good Luck!

 

[coralbeauty]

I have a 3, as well. I run NO flo, only and I keep great(but limited) coral. I also get a fair bit of afternoon sun. I put a third NO tube on the second flap. I believe that you can not do VHO, because of the heat. (I have VHO in my 55 gallon reef, and I keep two 4 inch fans running to keep it cool.) I can not figure out where I would put a fan in that system.
However, I have also explored the PC option and it will work. (As I have posted before, sorry to repeat myself). When I get around to it, I am going to replace the two tube system which came with the system for a retro fit PC, from an online company and keep my third NO tube as my "blue" light.
Good luck,
Connie
PS: I keep LPS (frogspawn and hammerhead) star polys, green and purple mushrooms, buttom polyps.

 

[jacrmill]

ill probably just stay away from VHO then for now, until i can afford a new hood. i think i might try some of the corals you suggested. right now i have the stock lighting. i have one bulb that came with it, and one blue actinic. do you think this is enough for these corals you mentioned?

 

[jacrmill]

thank you coralbeauty and jond. i posted a question about this in the reef section. if you have any more assistance you can post it there. thank you again, you have both helped very much, and saved me some big $.