# VHOs vs T5



## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

I looked around for a thread like this but i couldnt find one with the details i was looking for. Anyways, ATM im running 4x65 watt PC lights over a 55 gallon tank with mostly softies. However its time for a lighting upgrade so i can start to concentrate on some LPS & SPS. So

i was considering T5's when i realized that VHOs are also an alternative. My question is what are the advatages that one has over the other. I know the general advantages of T5s but i dont know that much about VHO's. Can i run a tank with SPS with VHOs alone? I was thinking of somewhere along the lines of a 4x110 watt bulbs over a 55. 

Also i know VHOs are older, but are they outdated just because they dont look as cool? Plz someone enlighten me on this lighting dilemma.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other. VHO bulbs have built in reflectors on them (URI). T5 allow for more flexibility in spectrums. I perfer VHO, Keri perfers T5.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Damon said:


> 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other.


I agree!!!


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Is it possible to sucessfully keep high light demanding SPS and LPS under T5's or VHOs without any plans of upgrading to MH?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I know its possible with VHO. I would imagine the same goes for T5 if you have enough light.


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

harif87 said:


> Can i run a tank with SPS with VHOs alone?


It doesn't matter what type of lights you use you will be able to grow just about anything, as long as you have enough of it. 



harif87 said:


> Is it possible to sucessfully keep high light demanding SPS and LPS under T5's or VHOs without any plans of upgrading to MH?


Yes, I've seen many examples of this. Not sure on your tank size but 4 t5 bulbs with good reflectors will allow you to grow pretyy much anything. More would be better though of course.

I'm not to informed with the way lights work myself, but I know when your looking into lights the amounts of watts isn't what you should look at, it's the PAR that's most important. I don't know what that is TBH (if someone could explain that would be tops) but T5's have a better PAR than VHO, which makes them more appropriate for reef tanks (even though VHO has more watts).

Anyway I found most of this information under a google search of T5's vs VHO. It seems most people thought T5's would be the better option.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

fishfingers said:


> It doesn't matter what type of lights you use you will be able to grow just about anything, as long as you have enough of it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What you said about it doesnt matter what light you have as long as there is enough of it, is true. But the thing is you cant light a reef tank with NO bulbs. Sure if i could somehow concentrate the light of about 40 of them into your tank than thats fine. The only thing is that no one can fit 40 NO bulbs over their tank. Same with T5 or VHO. What im asking is, is it possible to fit enough T5 or VHO bulbs over a tank.

[i might be wrong here but] par is the amount of lumens per watt. T5 have something like 92 lumens per watt which means that you need less watts to acheive a certain amount of lumens.

Damon, i dont mean to sound rude but, how do you know its possible?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

VHO, T5, and MH all have enough par and lumens to successfully grow anything provided you have enough of them. Meaning, you can fit enough of these bulbs (keep in mind we're talking about T5 HO not standard T5 bulbs) over most tanks to achieve the amount of light your corals require.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

I know it sounds good on paper, but the reason why im a little skeptical is because ive heard stories of peoples SPS and/or LPS not having such great color under T5's. Which is why i need to see some tanks running on T5s before i decide. 

I think im going to stay away from VHOs for now. But now the question im asking myself is "are my pockets ready for MHs or should i settle for a good T5 kit"


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

put as many t5's over that tank as you can, if you can get 6 across it, you can keep anenome's and sps. easily. run a couple 6500k, (highest par) 10k, and a couple actinic for color, your corals will look so good you wont believe it. keep the sps anywhere you want too. a 55 gallon tank isnt deep enough for the light not to penetrate well.


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

Not the ones I wanted to show you hariff, but these should give you a good idea on what can be done with t5's anyway.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/totm/index.php
http://www.hausriff.ch/156000/index.html

If those tanks don't have great colour, then i don't know what does!!!


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

thank you fingers, that should help some folks, those tanks look amazing!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

harif, I was having the same problem and I finally decided to go with T5s.
6*54 watt tek retro with IceCap reflectors from reefgeek.com

For bulbs I was gonna do. 1 ATI aquablue, 3 ATI blue pluses, 2 UVL super actinics.

The water will look pretty blue and the corals should glow like crazy.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> harif, I was having the same problem and I finally decided to go with T5s.
> 6*54 watt tek retro with IceCap reflectors from reefgeek.com
> 
> For bulbs I was gonna do. 1 ATI aquablue, 3 ATI blue pluses, 2 UVL super actinics.
> ...


Yea, With all those blue bulbs the corals WILL "Glow like crazy"!! Until they die from lack of light! Corals can not be kept under Blue/Actinic lights alone! The daylight bulbs are what they feed off of and without them or without enough of them the corals will die.

EDIT: I thought we had talked about this already. I made several bulb suggestions and now this? You can not have all blue my friend or nothing will grow and they will just wither and die. I don't want to see you throwing money away like that OR that many animals dying for no reason other than wanting color.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

with these lights there is no need to worry. The Par on those blue bulbs are higher than on many daylights so they are fine. I have also seen a # of set ups like this (just like this) that have been like this for a couple of years now and they look great. I do thank you for your jumping to ding me in the head again, but after having done the research I have I am not that worried about it...but not that I think about it I would still like to talk with you about it more....


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> with these lights there is no need to worry. The Par on those blue bulbs are higher than on many daylights so they are fine. I have also seen a # of set ups like this (just like this) that have been like this for a couple of years now and they look great. I do thank you for your jumping to ding me in the head again, but after having done the research I have I am not that worried about it...but not that I think about it I would still like to talk with you about it more....


It's not all just about Par though bud. My partner at the fish store was standing beside me when I replied the last time and he was laughing his head off about the same thing I said. No Corals or anemones can/will survive under actinics/blue alone. If that is the route you take I am going to stay out of it any further because I don't want to be part of the massacre. Please rethink this stratagy.

Keri


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I'd have to agree... photosynthetic corals need full spectrum


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

well then it will be rethought and its probably a good thing that I was shut up in an open forum like this too 

how im lookin at the giesemann now. 3 6000k and 3 actinic plus.

yea right back to what you said the first time keri

How will the corals glow under that?

morris, as far as lighting goes I would get the T5s...as you can tell.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Drop the 6000K (I assume you meant 6500K) and go with 10K's.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

will do. Good thing you caught me, I planned on ordering them today.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

SUPM, I want this tank to be RIGHT!!  When I design a tank setup I demand it be the way the customer wants it! Ask Leveldrummer. I designed his first tank. He learned too much from me though and now can do just as good a job as I can. lol.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

I would have to go with Reefneck here. Its known that corals grow better under 10K lighting with high intensities from the red part of the spectrum than they do under 20Ks which lack the red and have more blue.
(btw, good job in listening to experienced reefers, seriously..)

Anyways as far as T5 and VHOs go, i ordered a pair of Current USA 175 watt pendants with 10K bulbs (might switch em for 14K)..... now my dilemma is, what should i do with my PC system??? ........ hmmm...that coffe table could use something to level it out.......:lol:


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

...im stubborn, its not the best thing to be, but things usually end up ok. No disrespect was meant (I am still pretty new to this...this is like my 4th month of this so Ive still got some learning to do )

you just completely bypassed the T5 and VHOs? Lucky dog, I would do the same if it was an option. Are you going to add any actinics?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

harif, lets see some pics when you get it up


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Ill have them next week. But when i do, i gotta get my camera back from Olympus before i could take any pics


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

cool, hope that doesnt take too long. My T5s are coming on wed or thurs...its nice bein so close to LA sometimes


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## vvolfe1 (Oct 9, 2006)

T5 vs VHO vs MH. It really all depends on the look you are going for and what you like. All 3 will provide enough light depending on amount of bulbs and setup. I heard VHO Actinics rock over T5's have not seen them to compare though. I personally like the MH's the best. Something about the single point light source. It causes shimmer and shadows unlike the tube lights. 
Pretty soon I'll have 2x 175 10k MH and 2x 54w T5's actinics. I might go VHO for actinics but will probably go 4x T5's if I dont like the look of 2 T5's


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

man, i wish i saw this sooner, not to step on toes, but its all opinion, and im a HUGE fan or 6500k's with actinics, the 10ks look great, but the 6500ks will really make reds and yellows pop as good as the blue light makes greens pop. it seems to only work with t5's from what ive seen. ive never tried with pc's and 6500k mh's just look nasty. 

but when you go to get new bulbs, try 2 65, 2 10 and 2 actinic 03, if you dont like it, you can slap me.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

^^haha ok, the next time around I am sure different bulb configurations will be tried


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

leveldrummer said:


> man, i wish i saw this sooner, not to step on toes, but its all opinion, and im a HUGE fan or 6500k's with actinics, the 10ks look great, but the 6500ks will really make reds and yellows pop as good as the blue light makes greens pop. it seems to only work with t5's from what ive seen. ive never tried with pc's and 6500k mh's just look nasty.
> 
> but when you go to get new bulbs, try 2 65, 2 10 and 2 actinic 03, if you dont like it, you can slap me.


Definately all opinion. 

I understand your a fan of 6500K w/ actinics, but with what bulbs?


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

harif87 said:


> Definately all opinion.
> 
> I understand your a fan of 6500K w/ actinics, but with what bulbs?


t5s are the only ones ive seen look really good, but i havent seen pc's that way, and 6500k mh's dont look good at all, no amount of actinic can counteract that yellow. or am i not understanding your question?


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

I mean what brand? Ushio, XM, Coralife etc?


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

you would have to do your own research on that, im not a pro at t5's, and i run mh's hamiltons myself, there is lots of stuff out there that will tell you the par of what ever bulb you want to know.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I just got the lights up and runnin on the tank. I have never seen a tank that looks this awesome, I dont know why you dont see more softie tanks with T5s. I just cleaned the glass and fed the fish so there is too much crud floating around so I will take pics tomorrow....this looks spectacular


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

Bear said:


> I just got the lights up and runnin on the tank. I have never seen a tank that looks this awesome, I dont know why you dont see more softie tanks with T5s. I just cleaned the glass and fed the fish so there is too much crud floating around so I will take pics tomorrow....this looks spectacular


the reason you dont see more softy tanks, is the same reason your about to start buying more lps and sps, its the natural progression of most reefers.


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

Hey guys. I've been shown another SPS tank that is run with T5's (primarily halides though by the looks of the photos). The colours this guy is getting though are just so incredible I thought I had to show you.

http://haaga.aqua-web.org/

There isn't as much variety as the other links but these just seem to be so much more vibrant.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Nice pics fingers

BTW i got my halides 2 days ago


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