Lights. VHO, PC, HO, NO?

[bp's aquarium alias]

Just bought a 90 setup for intent of keeping Fish, Live Rock, Xenia and
maybe a couple zoos.

I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs to PCs are crap. Just buy a
4' shop light from lowes, to buy my VHOs. Read websites where they say VHO
is obsolete now b/c of PCs. etc. etc. Lots of conflicting info out
there.

I'd like to stay as inexpensive as possible for now; the $10 shop light
looks good if it'll fit under my canopy.

Any suggestions for cost effective lighting that'll grow coraline and
Xenia?

Thanks.
Barry

[Yukon]

"bp's aquarium alias" > wrote in message news:Pine.LNX.4.44.0406080948050.2331-100000@Itchy...
> Just bought a 90 setup for intent of keeping Fish, Live Rock, Xenia and
> maybe a couple zoos.
>
> I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs to PCs are crap. Just buy a
> 4' shop light from lowes, to buy my VHOs. Read websites where they say VHO
> is obsolete now b/c of PCs. etc. etc. Lots of conflicting info out
> there.
>
> I'd like to stay as inexpensive as possible for now; the $10 shop light
> looks good if it'll fit under my canopy.
>
> Any suggestions for cost effective lighting that'll grow coraline and
> Xenia?
>
> Thanks.
> Barry
>
I have used NO lights on my 55gal for years for mushrooms and star polyps. Xenia and zoos would do much better under PCs. There are
also T-5's out there now. I'm sure others here will give their opinions. You can hear a lot more opinions about all of them over on
Reef Central's Lighting forum

[John N. Gretchen III]

http://www.californiareefs.com/tanktechlighting.htm


John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

[Rikko]

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:18:32 GMT, bp's aquarium alias
> wrote:

>Just bought a 90 setup for intent of keeping Fish, Live Rock, Xenia and
>maybe a couple zoos.
>
>I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs to PCs are crap. Just buy a
>4' shop light from lowes, to buy my VHOs. Read websites where they say VHO
>is obsolete now b/c of PCs. etc. etc. Lots of conflicting info out
>there.
>
>I'd like to stay as inexpensive as possible for now; the $10 shop light
>looks good if it'll fit under my canopy.
>
>Any suggestions for cost effective lighting that'll grow coraline and
>Xenia?
>
>Thanks.
>Barry

I find the light coming from a $10 shop light as really grubby. The
reflectors are dreadful so you'd need pretty high intensity bulbs for
the tank to look appealing.
I finally broke down, heaved out the dual shop light I was using (on
FW, mind you) and built a T5 strip. The light output is incredible -
I'll be doing something similar for my SW tank.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7800

T5 tubes are fairly cheap compared to PC and MH, and cost very little
to run. They aren't as common as T8 or T12 so are still a bit pricey,
but I love the results.

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Barry,

I have to disagree with you because I have run all the lights out there over the
years. I still use PCs over my 29g, and this is what my tank looks like
currently:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/29g_051804_900.jpg

I have run VHOs over my 55g, and now I have MH and T5s over it.
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_left_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_right_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_center_031304.jpg

I've seen tanks run with 4 bulbs of NO lighting in Home Depot shop lights, and
it will work to grow lots of coralline with 6500K ($5) bulbs and Actinic bulbs
(~$20 at the LFS).

To learn more about the T-5s, check out this page. I got some ready to plug in
units about a month ago, and felt the price was very reasonable:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html

Marc


bp's aquarium alias wrote:

> Just bought a 90 setup for intent of keeping Fish, Live Rock, Xenia and
> maybe a couple zoos.
>
> I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs to PCs are crap. Just buy a
> 4' shop light from lowes, to buy my VHOs. Read websites where they say VHO
> is obsolete now b/c of PCs. etc. etc. Lots of conflicting info out
> there.
>
> I'd like to stay as inexpensive as possible for now; the $10 shop light
> looks good if it'll fit under my canopy.
>
> Any suggestions for cost effective lighting that'll grow coraline and
> Xenia?
>
> Thanks.
> Barry

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[bp's aquarium alias]

On Wed, 9 Jun 2004, Marc Levenson wrote:

> Hi Barry,
>
> I have to disagree with you because I have run all the lights out there over the
> years.

No need to disagree, I haven't formed any opinions yet. :-) I've just
heard a lot of conflicting advice.

>I still use PCs over my 29g, and this is what my tank looks like
> currently:
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/29g_051804_900.jpg
>
> I have run VHOs over my 55g, and now I have MH and T5s over it.
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_left_031304.jpg
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_right_031304.jpg
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_center_031304.jpg

Why the added MH lights?


> I've seen tanks run with 4 bulbs of NO lighting in Home Depot shop lights, and
> it will work to grow lots of coralline with 6500K ($5) bulbs and Actinic bulbs
> (~$20 at the LFS).
I've got this idea in the back of my mind...


> To learn more about the T-5s, check out this page. I got some ready to plug in
> units about a month ago, and felt the price was very reasonable:
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html
>
> Marc
Thanks for the link!

[Marc Levenson]

bp's aquarium alias wrote:

> No need to disagree, I haven't formed any opinions yet. :-) I've just
> heard a lot of conflicting advice.

My mistake, I misread this statement: "I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs
to PCs are crap." I thought you stated PCs were crap, not that you had *heard* that.
Oops!

> >I still use PCs over my 29g, and this is what my tank looks like
> > currently:
> >
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/29g_051804_900.jpg
> >
> > I have run VHOs over my 55g, and now I have MH and T5s over it.
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_left_031304.jpg
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_right_031304.jpg
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_center_031304.jpg
>
> Why the added MH lights?

I wanted to add SPS corals and clams, and knew they would do better under MH than they
would under VHOs.

> > I've seen tanks run with 4 bulbs of NO lighting in Home Depot shop lights, and
> > it will work to grow lots of coralline with 6500K ($5) bulbs and Actinic bulbs
> > (~$20 at the LFS).
> I've got this idea in the back of my mind...

It will work with corals that are not light-demanding, and FO (Fish Only) tanks.

> > To learn more about the T-5s, check out this page. I got some ready to plug in
> > units about a month ago, and felt the price was very reasonable:
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html
> >
> > Marc
> Thanks for the link!

You're very welcome. Feel free to peruse my site, it is loaded with information.
There is a search engine on the main page, and the Personal Logs contain useful
information. Be sure to click on Hidden Treasure because my webpages are sorted by
category there

Marc


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Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[reefman MC]

What kind of Xenia do you want to keep bp's?


--
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[Sen]

Hi Marc,
I am interested to have that Helios T-5.
Can you give me that web address.
38$ for that kit sound very cheap
Serge


On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 06:47:36 GMT, Marc Levenson >
wrote:

>Hi Barry,
>
>I have to disagree with you because I have run all the lights out there over the
>years. I still use PCs over my 29g, and this is what my tank looks like
>currently:
>
>http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/29g_051804_900.jpg
>
>I have run VHOs over my 55g, and now I have MH and T5s over it.
>http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_left_031304.jpg
>http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_right_031304.jpg
>http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/55g_center_031304.jpg
>
>I've seen tanks run with 4 bulbs of NO lighting in Home Depot shop lights, and
>it will work to grow lots of coralline with 6500K ($5) bulbs and Actinic bulbs
>(~$20 at the LFS).
>
>To learn more about the T-5s, check out this page. I got some ready to plug in
>units about a month ago, and felt the price was very reasonable:
>http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html
>
>Marc
>
>
>bp's aquarium alias wrote:
>
>> Just bought a 90 setup for intent of keeping Fish, Live Rock, Xenia and
>> maybe a couple zoos.
>>
>> I've heard lights suggestions from go with PCs to PCs are crap. Just buy a
>> 4' shop light from lowes, to buy my VHOs. Read websites where they say VHO
>> is obsolete now b/c of PCs. etc. etc. Lots of conflicting info out
>> there.
>>
>> I'd like to stay as inexpensive as possible for now; the $10 shop light
>> looks good if it'll fit under my canopy.
>>
>> Any suggestions for cost effective lighting that'll grow coraline and
>> Xenia?
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Barry

[Marc Levenson]

No website. You'll need to contact Pet-O-rama in Hurst, Texas. Email
me for the phone number, or do a online Yellow Pages search.

Marc


Sen wrote:

> Hi Marc,
> I am interested to have that Helios T-5.
> Can you give me that web address.
> 38$ for that kit sound very cheap
> Serge

>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com