Best bang for my buck? Lighting
- Thread starter zebvance
- Start date
Hey guys thanks for the input. I have had some mixed info regard what kind of lights I have and how many watts I have could somebody help me clear this up. I have attached a nother pic of the lights and the ballasts. The ballasts are fairly big about 4 inches by 3 inches by 12 inches.
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How old are the bulbs? I use double bulb fluorescent fixtures (normal output, 40 watt tubes) on my two non planted 4 foot tanks, and it works fine as far as brightness is concerned. On my planted tank I use a double bulb T5HO fixture, which is dramatically brighter.
what bulbs do u have in ur light?
seems like some people are forgetting thies is different kelvin ratings for the bulbs, thus different brightness. I got 6500k on one tank but only 3000 something k on another and in my caiman 4 6500k four foot double bulb t8s i think....or is it smaller........ idk but u can change to a higher kelvin rating for brighter
seems like some people are forgetting thies is different kelvin ratings for the bulbs, thus different brightness. I got 6500k on one tank but only 3000 something k on another and in my caiman 4 6500k four foot double bulb t8s i think....or is it smaller........ idk but u can change to a higher kelvin rating for brighter
ok guys I just found out that I have a Vho light and I have normal 40 watt bulbs in them? I have looked up the company that made these lights and from what I can tell the ballests are rated for 2 110 watt VHO t-12 lights. But I have 2 40 watt lights in there. So where locally can I get these VHO t-12 lights? here is a pic of the ballasts.
Your best bet is to order the lights online. Most of the stores that might stock VHO lights are going to be more setup for marine fish and invert. Now remember that VHO lighting is fairly old so most reefers are going to be running HOT5, halides or LED lighting. If your ballast were IceCaps then I would say just switch out your end caps and run T5's, I'm not sure if you can do that with your hamliton ballast. The correct bulbs would really increase the amount of light the fixture can produce and some of the bulbs have built in reflectors.
The best bang for your buck is normal incandescent sockets rated with screw-in CFLs. If you're not growing plants, that's all you need. Point the CFLs straight down pendant-style for best effect.
