VHO or T5?

[trottman]

I want to make a hood for my 29 gallon tank. i think that it is about 32 inches long. I want to use my two existing 55 watt compact flourescent bulbs and incorperate either some T5's or VHO's. which would you reccomend. i have had experiance with T5's and think that they are very good. I have never used VHO's and don't know if they are better. I am leaning toward T5's because i can fit more of them in the hood.

What would you do? if i use VHO's i think that i can only use 2 of them with my 2 55 watt pc's. If i use T5's i think that i can use 3 or 4.

Thanks

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

IMO -- if you want actinic = URI VHO
if you want "white"/10k = T5

[dphins]

I would say go with the T5's. On a side note, I hope you know that T5's are brighter then your PC's.

[Letmegrow]

Wait until the VHO t-5's come out.

[trottman]

ok thanks steve

[Im Lon 2]

Originally posted by Letmegrow
Wait until the VHO t-5's come out.
Is there such a thing?

[ramtheory]

Originally posted by Im Lon 2
Is there such a thing?

Yes just means bulbs will come at a higher rate of wattage you can overdrive T5 now with different ballasts which we do for this hobby. So I would assume the bulbs used currently are T5 HO. Since the demand for T5 is increasing. It is only a matter of time before they make a bulb that will go more wattage "VHO".

T# # = size "circumference" of bulb then NO/HO/VHO = Normal Output/High Output/Very High Output

I am personally a fan of T12

[trottman]

if they do come out with T5 VHO could i use them in my HO fixture if i got a better ballast?

[sirreal63]

I did overdrive my T5's, a workhorse ballast does it nicely and so does an Icecap. I did notice a lot of heat with the Icecap driven one and not much heat with the workhorse driven one. I think we will see T8 VHO before we see T5 VHO. The T8's can use the same endcaps as T12 with just a change in the waterproof gasket. The only problem with VHO is the heat and lack of a space saving reflector that is effecient. Same problem with pc's which is why the T5's are so nice...awesome reflecors.

[Letmegrow]

T-5 VHO's are used in Europe currently, the release here is being pushed back for what ever reasons.

Ramtheory is right about the definitions.

They will offer t-5 VHO ballast and VHO Bulbs, Just like the t-8's and t-12's do now. I think ESU is making the furthest advancement on getting 'cheap' VHO t-5's out there.

[trottman]

Do you know of any web site that i could check out these new T5 VHOs?

[Letmegrow]

Not unless you know dutch or german.

[dphins]

Check this one out.
http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4445&page=1&pp=15

[chadfarmer]

that tank is hot and doesnt use any sun bulbs

[dphins]

Did it turn on the lightbulb in your head Chad? Going T5's on your tank? I would like to try it.

[chadfarmer]

maybe

i would do a icecap 660 with icecap reflectors

2 6500 sun bbulbs and 2 blue-plus bbulbs and 2 good fans for the 80w the bulbs will bepushing out


the unit that is on the other site looks to be upgradeable

[sirreal63]

Maybe I am missing something here, but he lists the wattage on the lights a 80 watt and 54 watt. The tank is a 6' tank, he is running 6' 80 watt bulbs and 4' 54 watt bulbs...that is the same wattage as our T5's? Where does the VHO come in?

From one of his posts on the tank...
"The tank dimensons are: 180cm x 75 cm x 60 cm (lxdxh)
At the moment i use 696 Watt (4x54 W+ 6x80 W ) I'll stock it up to 856 Watt (5x54 W + 8x80 W)"


Extremely nice tank though...awesome color.

[dphins]

Look at his diagram. He has an odd shaped tank. The front is wider then the back.

[DrBDC]

Can you use a pc ballast to run t-5's or VHO's? I'm not familiar with ballasts that much. I've only used sets that were together already. i.e. a 2X55 pc ballast and run 2X54w t-5's? Or 2X55 and overdrive the 34w's(or whatever the 3 ft bulb is)?

[trottman]

i have 9.6 watts a gallon of T5's on my tank and i love them!

[sirreal63]

Yes you can Roy...it must be an electronic ballast to fire them. I used Workhorse ballasts and the work great. I don't think all electronic ballasts will fire them, but I don't know that for a fact.

[DrBDC]

I had thought about changing the 4X55 watt pc's for some vho or t5 actinics. I think either would put out a heavier actinic than the pc's.

[sirreal63]

T5 Actintics blow, color is better with pc's and better yet with vho.

[trottman]

i have decided on 1x175 watt 14k mh, with 1x55 watt pc daylight and 1x 55 watt pc actinic. any idea on what the photoperiod should be? i am new to MH.

I was thinking, pc's on at 7:00 and off at 9:00 and MH on at 11:00 and off at 8:00.

will this light be distributed pretty evenly throughout the tank?


Now buying 175 watt MH that could be used in a DIY hood(30 inches long)!!!

[Im Lon 2]

I only run my MH's for 6 hours, but that is more preference. I do it to cut Cost on the Electric bill, but I have 2 - 400's

[DrBDC]

Here's what I have but all tanks are different and the depth makes a big diff in relation to the wattage.

2X55 pc actinic 10:00am-10:00pm
2X55 pc actinic 11:00am-11:00pm
2X175mh xm10,000K 12:00pm-9:00pm

I have no advanced reasoning to this so don't overanalyze it. I just bring up the actinics over a 2 hour period and then bring them down over a 2 hour period. I guess my own sunrise and sunset. If I had 2X250 mh's I'd probably cut an hour out of the mh period or if I had lower par bulbs I might add an hour.

On my frag tank w/2X55 pc 10,000K over a 15L I do 9-9 and the 20L frag w/175mh 14,000K hamilton I do the same. Same timer.

[trottman]

thanks, what does PAR stand for again?

and will one 175 watt mh light be spread evenly throughout a 30 inch long tank?

thanks

[chadfarmer]

1 mh for every 2 feet so you will have 8 inches that doesnt receive a lot of light

[dphins]

Originally posted by sirreal63
T5 Actintics blow, color is better with pc's and better yet with vho.

I have been running T-5 blue +'s on my tank for the past year and they look great. So I guess when you say blow you mean that in a good way.

[trottman]

i like T5's myself, i think that they are going to put no flourescent bulbs down.

8" is great! room for shrooms and rics!

[sirreal63]

Originally posted by dphinsx2
I have been running T-5 blue +'s on my tank for the past year and they look great. So I guess when you say blow you mean that in a good way.

Blue+ and Aquablue are not true actintic, the true actintic is different and I wasn't impressed with them, nor has anyone I have heard of that has them. The Blue+ is a good bulb.

[dphins]

Well I use the Blue+ to get more color and most people use actinic to get more color. So, you say tomato, I say tomato.:)

[chadfarmer]

what ballast are you using to run you blue +

[dphins]

Icecap 660.

[sirreal63]

The Blue+ has nice color and the ice cap overdrives it...an excellent combination.

[dphins]

Here is a pic of the blue+ on the icecap ballast.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/dphinsx2/blue.jpg

[ramtheory]

Well looks like they're coming real soon gents. CommodityAxis/ViaAqua is trying to kill off their supply of HELIOS T5 HO 50% off. run out the stock before the T5 VHO hits the market is what I'm thinkin. Noticed a few ads for HELIOS T5 III VHO coming soon along with HELIOS PL VHO that is what they call power compacts PL "Plug-in Lamp" go figure ads were in TFH

Later :thumbsup:

[levon15]

The complete light fixture is made to dispose of once of the light bulb is exhausted, eliminating problems associated with the deterioration of electronic ballasts.

These Helios fixture/lamps seem to be very very wasteful in my opinion. Are they even worth buying ?

Maybe I am missing something. Is it $20 bucks for the bulb and fixture and then when it craps out you throw it all away?

I have to be missing something.

http://www.commodityaxis.com/ProductData.aspx?id=67