VHO v.s. PC......Which one is the BEST choice!? HELP please.

[majesticangelfish]

After my vast amount of time of research and I am having a extremely difficult time which to go for VHO or PC. I need your help please........
This is planning for my 55 gallon.
Planning to provide..... LS and LR for sure! A few fishes for sure!
Possibilities maybe add live corals and etc in later time.
Canpony headroom between top of tank to canpony is 3.5 inches. No way I can put Metal Halide for that. Alternative leave me two choice. VHO or PC.
What I am considering is:
4-VHO (My opinion is cheap to buy than two) Will 440 watts be too much for fishes? <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
v.s.
4-55 watts PC totaling 220 watts.
As we have heard that PC outlight (which type? Regular,VO, and VHO) three to four times more than the flo-lights. Now my question is.....
ONE 110 Watt VHO tube v.s. ONE 55 Watts PC. WHICH ONE HAVE THE LIGHT POWER? Does it mean that TWO PC (110 watts) equal to one 110 Watts VHO in lighting perforamnce?
PLEASE HELP ME! Which one is best choice? Low maintenance cost, and reduce heat-relate risk.
Should I consider cooling fan for VHO or not necessarily? (If must, would it be ok if I put cooling fan on the back of canpony instead of side because I dont want to make my canpony ugly-look with grille over the sides.) The back section is an open unlike the side and front section that sit on tank.
Please Help me with your experience and opinions this sure will be much of helpful.
Thanks

 

[fshhub]

for a 55, i would not add mh's anyway, i like pc's but i don't like their blues as much, so my system , now has pc's(2x55w@10000kelvin), for white light, but for actinics, i am getting(soon for corals) vho's, the pc's do get warm, but no t like mh's, if i were to start over again, i would stillget pc's and vho's in combination
HTH

 

[mlm]

i have a 55 gallon reef tank and I would of put 4 48 inch VHO tubes but the way the canapy is designed they would not fit so I went with 3 48 inch VHO tubes and 2 x 55watt power compact. It workes out better this way anyway because I could have two ballasts. This would not be to much for the fish and would be excellent if you get a reef.

 

[kdlbem]

I have both PC, and VHO on the same tank. The blue color of the VHO's is way better than the pc's. I just switched my actinics to VHO this weekend. I don't know about the color/intensity of the daylight VHO bulbs, because I've never had those. But if I had to choose one or the other, I'd go VHO, because they were easier to install, they are cheaper to replace, and the actinic color is much more intense.
HTH,
B

 

[kijak]

I have no experience with VHO or MH, but when researching what to put on my 125 reef, I put PC's. They told me the heat issue was gone. I cracked the glass on two of the three panels, A call to all glass replaced them both, and they suggested to place a small wedge or block under the back of the fixture to raise it off the glass and let some air flow through, The glass still can get warm, but hasn't broken. I have 3 110 pc on mine, and was told to ignore the Watts/Gallon rule of thumb, and utilize a light meter for intensity of lighting and coral placement. As this is more accurate then the watts per gallon theory, My coral doesn't care what size tank its in, I have a 10 gallon Reef on my desk at work, with a gonoporia, Acroporia, Montiporia, Green star pipe, blue mushrooms and a bowl pagota. I placed a 65 watt 24 inch custom sea life on it, I have a couple of inches hang over but its ok. I also run a sweeper 214 powerhead, and a modified skilter 250 and a millineum 1000 for filtration. all this on a 10 gallon, so far it is working well, On the 125 I put 3 - 110 PC's with a smart lamp in one of them for attinic over the coral area.

 

[jakob4001]

actually they you can have a combo of MH & VHO; not all MH are pendant based set ups; but would give off a ltota heat;especially in a 55; yes you can keep airation fans just about anywhere; we do keep ours in the back; we use 4 VHO bulbs toatal of 440 watts over our 125 w/ only 1 4" fan outa of an old computer wired up to a spare 12 V AC/DC adapter; course the location it is in is very claimate controlled, so you may/may not need another fan

 

[templar]

I like PCs better for the 10000k bulbs, but the PC actinics, as of right now, are more of a blue lens rather then a true actinic. But I believe in the near future they have plans to introduce true actinic PCs so those will probably be pretty good. But until then VHO has much better actinic lighting.

 

[majesticangelfish]

Great reply and thanks!
I am considering to go for 2 VHO (one 50/50 and one actinic) and one set of PC 55 watts (total 110 watts of PC) 10000K lighting which would be used as " peak hours " for about 6 hours and turn off the PC. Two VHO will be 12 hours lightings.
How do it sound?
or
If I decide to go for 4 VHO and none PC provide.
1-50/50
1-Actinic
1-Aquasun or similar
1-What would you suggest?
A+....Cheap to buy 4 set of VHO
F.....One ballast means one switch???? Disadvantage that I cannot modify timing of light lux.
If buy two tubes of VHO with one ballast meanings Ill buy another one to make it 4 total and would be costly. Advantage..... Timable of lux needed.
Suggestion anyone?

 

[coraltrapper5020]

VHO cost more in the long run. PC last 9 to 10 months were VHO last 4 to 6 months. The Blue color of pc is a greyish color but add a 50/50 you'll do fine. PC are 1.5x the light out put of NO lights. With the vhos you'll get more light that will cost you alot. You can find pc setups with two controls for dawn and dusk. I have an ice cap with digaltial dimmer. Try an eight hour light cycle with the pc. The vho's run hotter then the pc.
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