Anyone switched from MH to VHO? (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

I know this is probably considered blasphemy, but I'm seriously considering ditching my metal halides and going with an all-VHO setup for the following reasons:

1. I can't keep many softies in my tank, because it's too bright. And I'm not as enamored with SPS corals as I thought I would be - they just sit there like colorful rocks, no motion or anything.

2. My God, the heat! Since it has been warmer this week, the room my tank is in has been a sauna. I hate to think what it will be like when it's 100 degrees outside.

3. Simplicity - I could probably get rid of my chiller, get a couple of fans, and have less equipment to maintain and worry about breaking.

Am I crazy? Is this just a passing phase (one of my bad days - sorry, flashback)?

 

[Guest]

What if you just used one MH in the middle, then you could keep your SPS under it and softies on the sides.

 

[Guest]

Hey if you feel the need to ditch the MH's then do it I run an all VHO setup for my 40 gallon and I like it. Nice cool room, steady tank temperature, no chiller needed, and I can keep pretty much all the corals, I'm keeping SPS and they seem to be doing great, just keep them high up. There are many reefers that keep all types of corals successfully with just VHO's.

 

[Guest]

Go for it. After adding a bunch of SPS I realized I enjoy watching softies and LPS blow around in the flow better than SPS. I am down to two frags that are growing fast and in a year I should have two nice colonies dominating the top of the tank. I also have had no problems with keeping a Derasa clam under VHO. I like the colors better for VHO if I was ever to do MH again I would have 2 Actinics and 2 Aquasuns to supplement the VHO. Although I have had mysterious RTN events with a couple of SPS frags it looks like once they get used to the light they grow well. If your replace the 500W of MH with 220W of VHO you should save about a LPS colony a month on electricity.

Do what you want to do. It seems like everyone in this hobby tells you that you have to have a SPS dominated tank with MH. I realized as I moved into that direction that a SPS tank is not what I want. As a kid I wanted a Clownfish in an anenome same thing I like today. I may be crazy but I would take 6 30G cubes with a different pair of clowns and different type of anenome over 1 180G SPS tank.
Long story short...
Do what you want to do...
SPS people want you to do it too so you can be as broke as they are...
For every 1 nice SPS tank there are 10 other people with SPS tanks that turned into hair algae tanks...

 

[Guest]

Look into my eyes 8O , you must do what I tell you to do....

 

[KarenHorn]

I know this is probably considered blasphemy

That was my first thought, LOL

 

[Guest]

Mikester,
You have stirred up a conversation I would LOVE to have more opinions on!!!!!!
You guys are probably tired of me posting various questions about my new tank but I am REALLY confused about which way to go on lighting.

1. If I go MH that means I have to buy a chiller.

2. Buying a chiller means I have to build the stand larger to hold the chiller and I have to add additional ventilation to the stand to dissipate the heat from the chiller.

3. MH also adds to more evap which leads to more complicated H2O makeup and more calcium demand which opens a whole other can of worms!!

Bottom line is that I really don't care much about SPS but REALLY want to keep a couple of Maximas and Croceas.

Any creative ideas on how I can "have my cake and eat it too"?

THANKS!!!!!!!
Chuck

 

[Guest]

1. If I go MH that means I have to buy a chiller.

No, but because your house is 78 degrees in the Summer you will. If you keep the house a little cooler and use fans you could probally keep the temp down, but what you spend additional in electricity keeping the house cool would probally pay for a chiller

2. Buying a chiller means I have to build the stand larger to hold the chiller and I have to add additional ventilation to the stand to dissipate the heat from the chiller.

Nope just have the chiller sit next to the stand. A lot of people of expanded far out from their stands.

3. MH also adds to more evap which leads to more complicated H2O makeup and more calcium demand which opens a whole other can of worms!!
Not really complicated to make up for evaporation and evaporation doesn't lower calcium but does give you the oppertunity to add calcium by making your fresh water top off rich in calcium.

I don't like MH with out VHO supplementation so if it is one or the other right now I would go with VHO.

 

[Guest]

tcarlson,
You are correct, added evap doesn't call for more calcium but the SPS associated with the MH does. Thanks for correcting me.
As far as moving equipment ouitside of my stand or lowering my house temperature are concerned those are both obviously personnal decisions that I have to make.
Again, and not to debate, the point I was trying to make is that keeping light demanding critters means going with MH which introduces a whole different set of factors. What it all boils down to is $$$$$$$$ and time.
Whather it's a bigger stand, more $ for lighting, buying a chiller, for the most part it's $$$$$$$$ and time.
THANKS for the input.
Chuck

 

[Guest]

I was wrong I read your sentence wrong on calcium demand.
You don't have to have a Calcium reactor SueT has had her tanks in many books and only recently added a calcium reactor. I am one that needs everything hidden although some people favor the frakenstien method with fuges and equipment everywhere.
This is one of the nicest tanks I have seen and its a 75G with 260W of PC no sump and uses askilter and an aqaucclear filter for filtration.

 

[Guest]

Well, I decided to experiment with what I have before ditching the MH completely (since I have a lot of money invested in that setup).

I raised my light fixture about 2.5" last night to see how that works. It's obviously too soon to tell in regards to coral health, but asthetically the tank looks a lot better already - I don't feel like I have to wear sunglasses to look at the tank, and the colors are not as washed out as they were before.

I'm going to experiment with the height of the pendant to see if I can find a good compromise that will allow me to keep a better mix of corals (i.e. softies can survive in the bottom without melting, maybe a few SPS towards the top, etc.).

 

[Guest]

Out of curiosity:
- What wattage MH's are you running?
- How fart off the top of the water were they?
- How deep is the tank?
THANKS!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

They are 250w HQI on IceCap ballasts. The tank is 21" deep, with a 4" sand bed. From bulb to the water surface is now 14", so before it must have been about 11.5".

 

[Guest]

Aggie-
Mike is running pretty much the most powerful metal halides on the market. His lights compare to a 400W mogul based MH. When you read about MH most people are running mogul based MH which usually are 175W, 250W, and 400W. The HQI lamps are double ended so they produce a lot more light.
Mike-
I was about to suggest 4 VHOs and one 250W HQI in the middle but that doesn't make any since with the center brace.

 

[KarenHorn]

Mike,

I'm glad you haven't abandoned the faith, lol. Let me know how this ends up working out for you since it's something I'm very interested in.

 

[Guest]

Tom,
Thanks for the info!!!!!!!
In fact what I had ALMOST decided on was 2 x 250 HQI MH's and 2 VHO actinics. Obviously all of this make me want to rethink.
THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!
Chuck