VHO better results than metal Halide?
 

Quite a few reefer I met were arguing that VHO tubes gives a better result in terms of SPS colors compare to metal halides.

I fail to see the logic in this argument.

What do you think?

they give much better fluoresence to the corals as a supplemental light than haveing just the MH. I think that is what they were trying to say. alot of people use them for dusk and dawn lights as well.

I met a few reefers who took out all metal halide bulbs and replace them with array's of VHO tubes. I wonder why that would be necessary.

well im not really sure why they would do that because after the fact of getting more than 4 bulbs over the tank you are consumming the same amount of energy. how many of them did they have over a tank of what size?

There are a few people in the hobby that like thier results with VHO's and their SPS....and there are lots of people who love their t-5's with their SPS...I do not like either and think the best way to do it is MH as one's main source of light...What really matters is what works for each individual person...if you are running halides and it is working for you, then do not change a thing...however if you want to experiment and see what happens, then by all means try it out...

i can't see why anyone would run vhos' instead t5's except to waste energy. Are they still using a bag cellular phone and a pager? this is the twenty first century, get with it

lol....hey dont pick on my cell phone...lol...but yea you can use the same amount of energy with 2 t-5s as you do with 1 VHO. and with 2 t-5's with a overdriven ballast will out bput more than 3 times the amount of light. so i dont think i or any one can explain why they use the VHO's except that it works for there application...other things might work better but some people just dont like to change...

twon8, i have always wondered about you avitar, is there really a rainbow sherbet, and is that pic real?? sorry for goin off topic.

Color and Growth are not the same thing.

Supplemental lighting and Main Lighting differ greatly.

You live in Indonesia so perhaps coral growth isn't that big of a deal since you can replace the corals so easily.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11188721#post11188721 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fatrip [/i]
[B]twon8, i have always wondered about you avitar, is there really a rainbow sherbet, and is that pic real?? sorry for goin off topic. [/B][/QUOTE]

here is a thread about it, and yes, the pic is real

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1240103&highlight=stylo[/url]

MH lighting all the way.

I would have agreed until I saw an absolutely awesome tank lit with only VHO's in my area.
The colors were unbelievable!
I felt like throwing away my T5 Tek fixture and replacing it with VHOs, but don't have the money for that kind of change.

I want to upgrade to Halides and will soon, but my monti's are doing great. They are more colorful than they were coming from MH tanks, and I think their growth rate is good.

I have VHO only over my 75 gallon display with mostly SPS, some LPS and a few softies. The colors of the SPS are unbelieveable. I also have MH/VHO over my 180 display. The colors of the SPS/LPS are ho hum at best. Those that have never seen SPS under VHO in person shouldn't really feel the need to comment. I would personally go with VHO only if it were me.

I too think VHO gives off some wicked colors. From the stuff I've seen halides and t5's don't fluoresce the corals like vho's. I can see how all VHO would look hot. A lot of people will use halides for the main punch and put a few vho's up there to add to the color. I always wondered why people don't use a few vho's with t5's. Maybe the vhos just give that right spectrum.

I can't remember exactly what it is, but it was the color that the VHO's produced or the way they were made that made them physically different than PC's to produce a better coloration. I believe, from what I have heard, the T5 colors are closer. "True Actinic" is what comes to mind.

It is one of the things from the old skool that has really held on, and as I was saying earlier tonight, they do look different and add something.

More of a personal preference thing though in the end as most bulbs are full spectrum now.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11192969#post11192969 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed [/i]
[B]I have VHO only over my 75 gallon display with mostly SPS, some LPS and a few softies. The colors of the SPS are unbelieveable. I also have MH/VHO over my 180 display. The colors of the SPS/LPS are ho hum at best. Those that have never seen SPS under VHO in person shouldn't really feel the need to comment. I would personally go with VHO only if it were me. [/B][/QUOTE]

May I see a picture of your SPS tank under VHO?

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=206608[/url]

VHO's work well. Typically not as good a growth as MH and the color can be better or worse depending of course on wattage and what MH bulb ballast combo you are comparing it to and what VHO bulbs you are using.

As was stated earlier I can't understand why anyone would choose VHO nowadays though. T5's offer basically the same thing with a more efficient use of power and many more bulb choices.

......and yes I've used all three:)

I do still use VHO's for atinic supplimentation to my MH's. If given the choice now I might even go with T5's for that after using the T5's for a while.


FWIW, Chris

I used to run all VHO on my 75 gallon SPS tank and got great color and good growth. I switched over to halides and VHO Actinics when I upgraded to my 125. I think the growth is probably better under the halides but the corals looked great in the old tank as well. I think like most things in this hobby it's a matter of taste.

Freed, what is your bulb configuration on that 75 (i.e. How many and what bulbs do you use)? I picked up a used 72-bow with a VHO retro already installed. I need to get new bulbs and would like to get into SPS in the future. Right now my tank looks too blue/purple.

Ive seen VHO sps tanks as well and the colors DO look good. You tend to see alot of the pigments that you dont see in high light tanks. Some corals simply look better under lower light. I think many of us SPS growers often assume all of our corals are high light, when they actually look more colorful with less light.

I have done both and I think it is possible to get some good growth using vho for some sps, most will not thrive like they would under MH. I have found that using VHO requires much stricter adherence to keeping your water spotless, using carbon frequently, trapping sediments and having intense current.

I would go for either T-5 or MH if I was going sps. just my 2 cents.

Check out the colors of Mike Lenards SPS in his tank of the months,he uses MH's only.

Has anyone ever seen mgny's VHO only tank? He is proof SPS can flourish under VHO, he even keeps clams. Here's a link to [url=http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1018074]his tank[/URL]