Lighting questions

[cj10488]

Ok I have been thinking again lol and I really dont like the PC actinics that I have.. the ballasts that I have are Fulham workhorse 5's from my understanding is these will do NO -T-5 lighting.. they are only rated for 128w each.. What I was thinking is maybe doing 2 actinic t-5's or running 2 46.5" actinic VHO bulbs hooking 1 bulb to each ballast.. Since all its going to cost me is the price of the bulbs plus endcaps it doesnt really matter either way.. What would be the best that I should go with... Would 2 VHO actinics be too much with a 55gal tank that already has PC lights??? should I maybe just go with one VHO actinic??


TIA,
James

 

[Guest]

What kind of PC's are you running now? I wouldn't suggest going down to VHO from PC... Just get a different brand of bulb. VHO bulbs are cheaper and don't last as long, but you could do that... URI would be the bulb to get... I am still not convinced on th T-5 thing... The bulbs are 54 watt...I still think a 96watt PC does a better job.. I have 2 different Actinics in mine right now.. 1 is a CSL Ultra Actinic, which to me is too blue.. and 1 Coralife 03 Actinic... I like the color of it better, it is a violet looking color... more purple...... I would just try another brand of bulb for your actinics myself...JMO

 

[cj10488]

The bulbs are catalina bulbs.. It just seems as though the pc's arent bright enough.. And i was thinking that 1 VHO bulb is equal to the 2 pc's that I have.. and If I did 2 then it would be much brighter.. I could of course try different bulbs for the pc's lights.. I am not really worried about how long the bulbs lasts I just want the color and brightness.. I mean the ones that I have now look CHEAP lol which i guess they were lol.. They are straight pin as well so that makes it even harder...

James

 

[loganj]

True actinic PC's will not be "bright" at all. They actually have a washed out sorta violet color to them. I agree with Timbo...VHO's would be a downgrade for you. VHO's do a great job...PC's do a better than great job though. If I were going to run PC's on a 55, I'd probably go with 6 65w bulbs. Each Workhorse 5 will pull a pair of 65w bulbs. 2 actinic 03's, 2 10,000k, and 2 50/50's. Put separate parabolic reflectors in for each pair of bulbs. That'll give you 390w...about 7 wpg. You should be able to keep all but the reallly high light inverts happy with that. Not to mention the PC's will last a bit longer than the VHO's. I would probably convert my sockets to square pin layouts as I changed the bulbs out.

 

[cj10488]

I dont want to change the entire lighting back to PCs.. I just use the PCs to supplement the 2x250w MH lights.. So you guys suggest that I stay with the PCs instead of switching to VHO or T-5's If so you know any good brand of straight 4 pin true Actinic bulbs out there and where i might be able to get them..

James

 

[loganj]

I have a supplier whom I think carries those bulbs. PM me if you want me to check on it for you. I think AH Supply also carries them in a straight pin arrangement. Just be sure you order actinic 03's and not just blue bulbs. I'm not sure if Darin at CaptiveReefs has them or not. You might check with him as well.

 

[jks1]

i dont know, i'm going w/ t5 supplements on the 75 Im planning. The reports are the bulbs last 18 mos, they run very cool, and they are really bright.

 

[biotoxin]

I really dont see why ppl go to vho when for a few bucks more you have halide which to me is the best there is. Spend some more time around tanks with mh and youll see that there's really no comparasin.

 

[cj10488]

I really dont see why ppl go to vho when for a few bucks more you have halide which to me is the best there is. Spend some more time around tanks with mh and youll see that there's really no comparasin

AS I have previously stated I do have halides.. The VHOs or PCs or T-5s would be to supplement the halides with Actinic..

James

 

[jamal-188]

I"m in the same situation as you, looking for actnic support. Moodpod who is supposed to be one of the lighting experts on RC gave me a few options in this thread if you wanna check it out. He explained what a few of the different setups would look like.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=271048

I'm pretty sure I"m going to go with the T-5 setup.