lighting heat question?

[2revup]

guys what gets hotter VHO or Metal halides?

reason i ask is because i have a all on one system it currently has 3 lighting fixtures to suit std flouecent (spelling) which has 1 Actinic Blue, 1 50/50, 1 white However as you could imagine its not enough, all though the heat is minimal which is great.

another question now
should I just add another 2 std Fluorescent, blue and white, whould this be substancial? or should i bite the bullet and get VHO's? Metal halides i think may be to hard to creat into my fixture, but if they run alot lesser temprature i will have to find a way i suppose.

by the way the tank is reef.

 

[Brenden]

MH gets hotter, but worth it. As far as asking what you should add...That depends on what you plan to keep in the tank, and your budget.

 

[Brenden]

MH gets hotter, but worth it. As far as asking what you should add...That depends on what you plan to keep in the tank, and your budget.

 

[melosu58]

Metal Halides get hotter. I dont have any but friends that do say they get pretty warm. Water temps heat up also. But IMO for lighting purposes they are the best.

 

[2revup]

does any one have any data sheets with what VHO heats up to compared to std Fluorescent and then the same for MH agaist std Fluorescent or VHO, just need to weigh up my options here and what i could possible do to give the best lighting with out a chiller....

 

[melosu58]

As you stated this is a reef tank so standard flourecent is out of the pics. No where near enough light. Sorry I dont have that info

 

[MarineFlake]

2revup, Brenden pretty much hit it on the head. Should really base lighting on whats going in the tank, what size tank and how deep it is. If your budget can include a chiller (running somewhere from $600 - ?????) then its really not an issue as far as heat goes. that is unless your dropping a couple 400w MH fixtures over a 20G long. Maybe post some of your thoughts on what you would like to keep and how big the tank will be.

Peace.

 

[2revup]

damn, if any one has this sort of info that would be great, or if anyone has a thermomter (im sure you all do) can you hold it up to your VHO and MH and get a reading and post temp that will give me a rough idea with what i am dealing with.
thanks for the help melosu58

thanks a million in advanced

 

[Brenden]

I can tell you if I bump the case of my MH sun replicator pendants it will burn your arm. Not blister it but you will jerk away like it did.

 

[ferretttt]

I can tell you if I bump the case of my MH sun replicator pendants it will burn your arm. Not blister it but you will jerk away like it did.

My VHO lights are hot like that. I have burned myself a few times,when cleaning

 

[2revup]

thanks guys, but figures would be great, if some could meause the temp of the light in an enclosure small (canopy) and just throw a thermomerter in there for 10 mins and then post the findings,

I know they both would be extreamly hot to touch but which actully generates more heat around an area space is what i am after and how much more or less, does it create.

sorry to be a pain, but keep the replies comming that are all helpful.

 

[FishFrik]

Wow... i never thought they would be that hot... I already get irritated by my 130W coralife light's heat when i clean the tank.

 

[2revup]

FishFrik what do you use as you lighting then 130W would suggest maybe MH???

 

[Brenden]

FishFrik what do you use as you lighting then 130W would suggest maybe MH???

smallest MH is generally 150, 175. Prob VHO, T8?

 

[angelscrx]

The temp change in the water would depend on several things; the type of MH 175, 250, 400 w; The size of the canopy; if you have fans in the canopy; and how far from the top of the water the lights are located, and how long they are on. If you plan on having a reef tank with only softies then VHOs would work fine. But if you plan on keeping SPS then I wouldn't go with anything less than MH IMO. Depending on the height and width of the tank you don't necessarily need 4 x 400w MHs. A friend of mine has a 55 gallon with one 175w MH and two VHOs and two actinics and his corals look great. Coral placement is also important. HTH?

 

[2revup]

angelscrx that helps quite a bit, what i think i will do is there is 3 std Fluorescent vaurios colors, i think what i will do is i think i can get 2 more bulbs in the hood i will try to get 2 VHO and try and get about 4 fans above them to extract the heat, so in total i should have 5 bulbs, fingers crossed! I cant afford a chiller at the moment!