Lights. VHO, PC, HO, NO?

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is obsolete now b/c of PCs.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

"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is obsolete now b/c of PCs.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

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


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

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is obsolete now b/c of PCs.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.

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/...ght_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/...ter_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

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/...ght_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/...ter_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!

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/...ght_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/...ter_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


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

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


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/membe...tinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showt...?threadid=8673

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/...ght_031304.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0304/...ter_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

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