Are vho's enough light to run a reef - Builiding a 125 gal reef

G

gtoon159

[Pam and I are in the process of building out the 125 gal reef for the house and I want to better understand what kind of light will be sufficient to grow some corals and what corals you can grow with simply VHO lighting.

We have decided to run a hood so the VHO's are attractive from a heat perspective.

George]
 
[If your 125 is a "tall" tank, you will still need MH's to reach the bottom portions.

And if you want to keep clams or SPS, you will need MH's, too.

But a shallow tank and softies can be VHO only.]
 
[It just depends on what you want. Clams and SPS should think about MH. I run 300W of VHOs on my pentagon 70 which is 30" tall with a 4" sandbed. I have all sorts of LPS and softies as well as some BTA's that do just fine under the VHO. I just make sure the light demanding corals are placed at the top of the tank while the lower areas are populated with softies and shrooms.
Of course if I had to do it over again I think I would go with one MH spot and some supplimental T5 actinic. If your not sold on the VHOs you might want to take a look at T5s as a great alternative.
Bottom line look around and decide what type of corals and critters you want to keep then plan the lighting accordingly.]
 
[I wouldnt say an absolute no to sps and clams, there are exceptions to every rule :)
Lots of Montipora does great under vho, and there a couple species of clams that will do great as well.
I have been running a vho mixed reef for the last two years and very happy with it. If I were to buy lights now, I would take a good look at the T5's as well, before making a decision.]
 
[I ran 8 URI 110w VHO bulbs over my 150 gallon reef (48x30x24). I was able to grow SPS, LPS, softies and clams without any problems. When I did have problems it was due to water chemistry and not lighting. VHO is very good lighting. Remember that lighting is only one aspect to keeping a successful reef. Water flow, good filtration (mechanical, biological, and chamical), water chemistry testing and coral placement in the reef structure are all equally as important.]
 
[Here is one version of the T5 setup.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html

They are the same diameter as a PC bulb, but not folded in half. An IceCap ballast can overdrive the bulbs, and there are T5 ballasts out there. I like the feature that you can get a low profile reflector that snaps onto the bulb. It is easy to remove and clean, compared to the one piece ones I was using over my 55g.]
 
[T5 bulbs are flourescent bulbs that are very small in diameter. T12 is the size of a standard VHO. You can use T5s with VHOs but most people use one or the other.]
 
[Ok T-5's look like what we will go with.

I haven't been able to find them on-line yet. Does anyone have a prefered source to buy from?

Thanks
GT]
 
@Marc wrote:
[Here is one version of the T5 setup. [url=http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html]http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/t5.html[/url] They are the same diameter as a PC bulb said:
[Where did you buy those bulbs? I like the thought of the balast and reflector being self contained.]
Click to expand...
 
[The Helios brand of T5 lighting is currently being sold by one of the board's sponsors. Pet-O-Rama has 3 locations that I know about and they offer a 10% discount for card carrying members of the DFWMAS.]
 
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