retofit VHO vs retofit compact fluorescents

[sherman9]

I am upgrading the lighting in my 75 gallon saltwater, for the last 6 months I have only had two 65 watt compacts/ one 10k white and one actinic 03 blue lapms, the other two are dead '' ballast related''... I have a hood and have leaned to retrofiting so i can keep the hood. ????

I planed on going w/ two sets of: coralife

48'' -Compact Fluorescent retrofit kits, each kit comes w/ 2 10k/ 2 true actinic 03 blue compact fluorescent lamps, external remote electronic ballast 4*65 watt...

However the fish store is pushing me towards VHO 48'' 4 lamp retrofit w/ off brand ballast '' sorry do not know the name of them''

What to do??????????????

 

[Ziggy953]

If you are keeping corals I recommend going with 4-6x 54w T5ho kits. TEK is a very good option and is what I have on my tank. VHOs will work fine if you want to go that way. PC lighting I don't care for. It gets hot the bulbs don't last very long and they are pricey to replace. T5 bulbs will last 12-18 months and they have several color options.

 

[sherman9]

compact fl's not good for coral

so 4-6 *54 watt T5ho's are better for hard and soft coral than

8 * 65watt compact fl??????

 

[Innovator]

What are the dimensions, 75g regular (48" x 18" x 20") or 75g tall (48" x 15" x 24")?

 

[ccCapt]

so 4-6 *54 watt T5ho's are better for hard and soft coral than

8 * 65watt compact fl??????

Yes...IF you use individual reflectors for the T5's. The thing that makes T5's work so well is the use of a quality reflector.

 

[melosu58]

Im partial to VHO`s. T5`s are probably better as far as intensity but I like my VHO`s. Here are pics of my VHO retro fits. They are covered by a reflective dome. Between the internal reflectors on the bulbs and the reflective dome I would say 99% of light makes it into the tank.

 

[sherman9]

yes, sorry about that I will update my tank with more info.
any way, the tank is 48''*18*20 and Iwould like to keep the canopy is why I was leaning toward the 2 sets of compacts...

 

[sherman9]

melosu58, nice tank!!!!

 

[Ziggy953]

There are several benefits to T5s. They are IMO much better then PC lights. I have had PC lighting on a 72g tank and just 2 54w T5s produced more light then the PCs did. They have a better PAR rating and with the use of individual reflectors you will get better growth in your corals then with PC lights. TEK as I mentioned uses German reflectors. Each bulb has it's own reflector so you get maximum benefit from the bulbs. Another big benefit of the T5s is the bulb life. Average 12-18 months vs 6-10 months on the PC and even VHOs. It is totally up to you what you decide to do and people have kept successful tanks with all kinds of lighting.

 

[melosu58]

Thank you. That is your VHO retrofits in action. I just showed you the tank pic so you could see the lighting system. I dont use a canopy.

 

[sherman9]

OK, thank you for the input ''compacts are out'' now i have been looking for the t5vho kits and the ballast for them. the best i have found is 4 tube with a ballast but the site is not clear on the quality of the reflector or if they are individual reflectors???? also i can not tell whether the ballast are set up to run two timers for dusk to dawn on the four lamp retrokit... i would really like to find the 6 lamp even if i have to have three ballast but would really like the option to pick and choose when what two lamps are on and off and what time s they do so, i know i can not or should say do not need to control each light by it's self but would like i said before like to control at least each set of two on the 6 lamp set up, if i can even find the 6 lamp retrofit kit?

 

[Innovator]

Not sure if you want coral, but a mixed reef would be suitable with the following: Tek 48" 4x54w retrofit for soft/lps coral or an IceCap 48" 6x54w retrofit for soft/lps and sps up high.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquasun
UVL Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
or
Front
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

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