VHO vs. MH, mogul

[Big Boy69]

I'm going to be setting up a 75 gal reef tank.
Right now on my 58 reef I have 2, 36 inch VHO's with 2 175, 10K MH. The lighting is great but what I'm wondering is..........

I'm thinking about setting up the 75 reef with 7 or 8 VHO's which would give me 770 or 880 watts.

What is the penetration difference between the VHO's and the MH's??
Would I have enough penetration to keep SPS like I have now?
Can people post picks of VHO only lighting?

[PiNaPLeX]

I'm not so sure you could fit 7-8 VHOs on a 75gal tank. I don't think the lights will all fit over the tank.

MH's have much better penetration than VHOs cuz of their intensity.

Also, have you looked into T5s as an alternative to VHO's. They're a newer technology, and more energy effiecient than VHOs, plus they have comparable penetration to MHs.

[Big Boy69]

One the reason why I was thinking about doing the VHO setup was I already have 2, 660 Icecaps and enough bulbs. You're right I don't know if 7 or 8 would fit from front to back. I was just wondering if there would be enough penetration. Plus you can do, I believe much more color spectrum with have more VHO's the with the MH/VHO combo.

[RichConley]

an icecap 660 running 4 T5s would run about 320w, and put out more light than the 880w of VHO.

VHOs are VERY inneficient as far as light per watt goes. Thats a lot of extra cash in electricity, and a lot of extra heat.

[Big Boy69]

At least if I would go with T5's, I would probably be able to put 7 or 8 in the hood.

[dberlin]

The T5 bulbs are a smaller diameter, but with the endcaps and reflectors they take up about the same space as a VHO. Approx. 2-1/2 inches per bulb if you fit them really tight together.