VHO Questions

[reefnut]

I have a couple questions
1 Can the heat from MH shorten the life of VHOs?
2 Which is better the Actinic "03" or the Super Actinic?
Any help would be appreciated

 

[bang guy]

1 - Absolutely. Heat is the #1 killer of flourescent phosphors.
2 - I don't see much difference. The internal reflectors make a huge difference but they both peak near the same point.

 

[reefnut]

Thanks Bang. My VHOs are about 4-months old and they are looking like they need replacing.

 

[bang guy]

What VHO ballast are you running? This makes the most difference. Tar ballasts heat up the bulbs a lot. Electronic are far superior and the IceCap are the current champions at extending VHO bulb life.

 

[reefnut]

It is a tar ballast...

 

[bang guy]

I really suggest you find the money and buy an IceCap 660. It will at LEAST double the lifespan of your VHO bulbs and I've experienced a 400% increase in the lifespan of URI AquaSun VHO bulbs.
As you can see, this ballast will quickly pay for itself just in bulbs. It also has many other benefits like being able to overdrive NO bulbs, it can run PC bulbs, and you can run 2, 3 or 4 bulbs off the same ballast.

 

[hondo]

How close or far should you have your VHO from your MH bulb. I have a 37g tank with a 175w MH and a 75w VHO side by side. snmall tank, small hood so they are pretty close together, will this cause me to lose VHO bulb life?

 

[bang guy]

oh... and I forgot.... it saves a significant amount of electricity. As an example a typical tar ballast running 4 VHO 110 watt bulbs draws 465 watts and the IceCap 660 running the exact same bulbs and producing just as much light draws 285 watts.

 

[reefnut]

Guy, I've been telling myself if I ever replace the VHO ballast I would replace it with a T5 setup. I can get a T5 retro with an electronic ballast for about the same, maybe a little cheaper than the Ice Cap 660. Any thoughts on that?

 

[bang guy]

I'm going to sound like a broken record... sorry...
I still recommend the IceCap. It will overdrive T5 lamps (yes, it can run T5) and again, you can mix & match bulbs. My concern is that the T5 is still too new to fully understand if they are better, worse, or just a wash. I like the fact that they are so intense but I'm not convinced they function better than VHO.
So, if you go with the T5 retro and it doesn't perform for you you'll need to throw out your whole system. If you go with the IceCap you can just replace the endcaps & bulbs.

 

[reefnut]

Good point!! Thanks.