MH or VHO

[ronj]

i was looking at Shallowreef's pic of his 210..i light the lighting look on that tank..i have been thinking about getting vho's, but i may try the mh's..i didn't think they would light enogh of the tank w/ only two, but they look like they do in this pic...any suggestions??? i do like the shimmer effect..i will only have softies in it though.. i don't have to have the mh's..here is a link to the tank pic i like by shallowreef
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/html.php?file=../motm/august_2006/august_2006_shallowreef.htm

 

[Slickdonkey]

The halides are a nice effect. However, if you don't need them it's hard for me to recommend them. They suck a lot of power and generate lots of heat, meaning you're probably going to need a chiller. I run both halides and VHO's.

 

[Scooterman]

I agree if your sure you only want to keep is softies them VHO or T5 is the way to go.

 

[Krish]

I third it. No need for the extra heat if it is not necessary. I personally love my MH's even with the added heat, but I just because I love the fact that I can support pretty much anything I wanted with just one single bulb

 

[bookofchange]

The halides are a nice effect. However, if you don't need them it's hard for me to recommend them. They suck a lot of power and generate lots of heat, meaning you're probably going to need a chiller. I run both halides and VHO's.

Do you use a chiller? What's your solution to the heat output?

 

[Slickdonkey]

Yep, I run a 1/4 HP chiller. Which in turn takes more energy, not to mention the upfront cost... It's a vicious cycle. I also run canopy fans and a sump fan which helps a little bit. The sump is also in the crawlspace which is nice and cool.

But still, if you can avoid the halides it will save you money.

 

[bookofchange]

Yep, I run a 1/4 HP chiller. Which in turn takes more energy, not to mention the upfront cost... It's a vicious cycle. I also run canopy fans and a sump fan which helps a little bit. The sump is also in the crawlspace which is nice and cool.

But still, if you can avoid the halides it will save you money.

We have halides, and we're experiencing some temperature issues. We lost an invert last night, but all the corals and everything are happy as clams -- but not really clams. *grin*

I'm considering putting some fans into the sump, we also have a staggered halide/actnic cycle... and the halides come on in the evening, instead of during the day.

We've considered a chiller, but it's only necessary in the summer months... I would like to try fans before we invest in a chiller.

Thanks for the recommendations... and I'm still researching what could have caused the invert death.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Depending on the size of the tank the fans could help quite a bit. On my 29 gallon QT they help a lot.

 

[Llarian]

Point a fan blowing across the water surface of your sump. (Clip-on variety work well). You'll see tons more evaporation, but the temperature will often drop bu several degrees.

-Dylan

We have halides, and we're experiencing some temperature issues. We lost an invert last night, but all the corals and everything are happy as clams -- but not really clams. *grin*

I'm considering putting some fans into the sump, we also have a staggered halide/actnic cycle... and the halides come on in the evening, instead of during the day.

We've considered a chiller, but it's only necessary in the summer months... I would like to try fans before we invest in a chiller.

Thanks for the recommendations... and I'm still researching what could have caused the invert death.

 

[bobfnp]

I have a 1/10 hp chiller on my 55 gal tank and it does a great job, ...house got to mid 90's during heat wave and I was away on vacation... I got home the chiller had kept the tank around 84, which is acceptable... the chiller also has a digital thermometer (much more accurate) and turns on the heaters when the temp is 2 degrees below set temp which is usefull all year round ...as we all know heaters malfunction and get stuck on, this way the power (on/ off) is controlled by the chiller...I also have fans on the sump and hood. The system just seems more stable with the chiller. Evaporation is constantly replaced by a float valve in the sump attached to a gravity feed supply of RO/DI water. I think stability in temp and salinity is important.